Effective Integration of Venezuelan Migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean

The political and socioeconomic crisis in Venezuela, which continues to limit many residents' access to basic goods, services, and freedoms, has driven nearly 8 million people to leave the country.

Most Venezuelan migrants and refugees remain in Latin America and the Caribbean. Countries receiving them have stretched to meet their short-term humanitarian needs like housing and medical care as well as their longer-term challenges like generating income and building a life in their new communities.

Studies point to a net positive economic impacton the major countries receiving Venezuelan migrants, including Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. However, they also show competition from Venezuelans negatively affecting more informal and less-educated local workers. Venezuelan migrants are often working below their level of education, which isn't good for them or competing workers. This dynamic has led to tensions between Venezuelans and locals that can harm their access to livelihoods and services, or even lead to violence against migrants. This competition gets worsened by the perception that "aid is only for migrants."

IAF's grassroots development model for integrating migrants points a way forward. The community-led economic and social integration advanced by our grantees effectively promotes positive bottom-up economic and social integration and reduces discrimination. IAF grantees have established reputations and histories of supporting marginalized people. When Venezuelan migrants join the local marginalized population, these grantees continue providing support to all who need it, reducing a sense of competition and increasing opportunities for positive interactions.

IAF's Community-led Development Approach to Integrating Migrants

We started hearing from grantees in the late 2010s that they were seeing more displaced Venezuelans in their communities with immediate and long-term needs that were both similar and distinct to those of the communities they were already serving.

With a special call for proposals, we tapped our network of 5,700+ current and former grantees to find organizations already starting to address this population's needs. We launched a cohort in 2019 to learn from each other and share strategies to promote effective integration. To date, we have invested over $17 million in 36 grantee organizations in 10 countries in the Southern Cone, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and the Caribbean, where Venezuelans have the highest per capita impact.

Funders that respond specifically to the Venezuela migration crisis have tended to focus on humanitarian concerns such as health, education, and child protection. The IAF is carving out a different niche within our core strength area by funding development organizations with a concerted focus on migrants' livelihoods and connections to community institutions. Many IAF grantees (74%) already specialize in expanding economic opportunity, particularly for marginalized populations. This positions them well to support entrepreneurs working within the informal economy-migrants and locals alike. For example, in Ecuador, Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Mujeres Unidas (CACMU) trains Venezuelan migrants and other vulnerable Ecuadorians in financial literacy and entrepreneurship. With credit from CACMU, participants have launched 70 small businesses with a loan repayment rate over 98%. IAF grantees can also help migrants and others achieve credentials and move into formal employment. For example, in Lima, Asociación Grupo de Trabajo Redes (AGTR) has guided more than 1,800 Venezuelan migrants in understanding legal and administrative requirements to regularize their immigration and work status and validate their professional certifications.

Grantee Spotlights: Tailored Approaches to Meeting the Needs of Migrants and Host Communities

Analyses of approaches to integrate migrants agree that these work best when they respond to the specific situations migrants and communities face. While migrants and refugees have the same basic needs no matter where they are, for income, access to services, and social connections, one-sized solutions tend not to work well. They may find more or fewer formal job opportunities, easy or difficult paths to obtaining housing, and other variables. These examples of community-based interventions show how organizations are working within their own contexts.

Improving Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Integration Opportunities for Venezuelans in Argentina

Many displaced Venezuelans in Argentina occupy low-skilled jobs in the informal economy because of discrimination and difficulties validating their academic training. As a result, they cannot document their monthly income to obtain housing. The Asociación Civil Alianza por Venezuela (AV) was founded by Venezuelan migrants to address the integration challenges Venezuelan migrants face in the greater Buenos Aires Metropolitan area.

Through nine strategic partnerships with universities, businesses, local government agencies, and the International Organization for Migration, AV has improved displaced Venezuelans' livelihoods and integration. With training and technical assistance, 1,000 Venezuelan migrants and refugees have improved their access to employment and nearly 1,000 have the tools to develop entrepreneurial activities. Nearly 5,000 have also received orientation to improve their integration into Argentine economic, social, and civic life. With IAF funding, AV holds community events to promote Venezuelan businesses as well as general cultural acceptance. For example, AV joined other Venezuelan-Argentine organizations to plan a successful fair called "Buenos Aires Celebrates Venezuela" that featured 130 Venezuelan entrepreneurs and attracted 40,000 participants.

Breaking Barriers for Venezuelan Entrepreneurs and Students in Trinidad and Tobago

The small dual-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago has absorbed more displaced Venezuelans per capitathan about any other country. Venezuelan migrants and refugees face language and legal barriers to obtaining work permits and regularizing their status in Trinidad. Through entrepreneurship training and technical assistance, IAF grantee Ryu Dan Empowerment Foundation has helped 350 displaced Venezuelans increase their income by an average of 20%-a meaningful increase for people who were barely getting by. Most were working two or three jobs, and Ryu Dan's support enabled them to launch and focus their energies on their own microbusinesses.

Participants have reported positive changes in how they are treated as migrants. As an example of concrete progress in promoting economic and social inclusion for displaced Venezuelans, Ryu Dan has joined Venezuelan migrant-led organizations in raising local lawmakers' awareness of legal barriers to Venezuelan students attending Trinidadian schools. As a result, student migrants now have a pathway to entering the education systemif they can pass an English assessment. Ryu Dan is tutoring participants to help them pass.

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