Exile and poverty: helping children in Colombia
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SOS Children’s Villages supports Venezuelan refugees and families in need – donate now!
Due to a deep political, economic and social crisis, Venezuela and its neighbouring countries are experiencing the second largest migration crisis in the world, after Syria. Colombia, the main destination country, hosts more than 1.7 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants and sees thousands of Venezuelans crossing the border every day.
Faced with this situation, we have decided to renew our support to SOS Villages d’Enfants Colombie through the implementation of a new project which aims at protecting unaccompanied and separated children.
Assessment of the first phase of the project
Duration : 15 March 2021 – 31 March 2022
After supporting in 2018 a first intervention in the direction of Venezuelan exiles, our association reengaged in 2021 alongside SOS Colombie in a project that targeted 300 Venezuelan children, nearly half of whom were girls. This project was developed until March 2022 in Maicao (in the northeast, on the border with Venezuela) and in Ipialès (in the southwest, on the border with Ecuador) with the objective of protecting these children, meeting their basic needs and trying to find their families in order to reintegrate them or, if necessary, offer them alternative care. It was also to engage in advocacy work to draw the attention of the Colombian government to the situation of migrant children in order to strengthen their protection system. Two temporary reception centers were opened and more than 320 children and adolescents were provided with housing, basic necessities (medicine, food, drinking water, clothing, Covid-19 tests), sanitary facilities, health care, education and pedagogical activities.
Assessment of the second phase of the project
This project continues to contribute to the safety and protection of unaccompanied and separated children and adolescents affected by the Venezuelan migration crisis in Colombia’s strategic border areas (in La Guajira, near the border with Venezuela and in Nariño near the border with Ecuador). It is in line with SOS child protection policies, child protection standards in humanitarian action and the United Nations guidelines for alternative care.
PERIOD
2022 – early 2023
BENEFICIARIES
- 213 separated and unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, 50% of whom are girls, in the localities of Maicao (Northeast region, bordering Venezuela), and further south in the country on the border with Ecuador.
- 67 parents or guardians and caregivers (50 women & 17 men).
LOCATION
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this new intervention are to:
- Protect children, and provide access to health care, through a temporary family-based alternative care service located in SOS facilities where children can have their basic and immediate needs met (food, shelter, water, hygiene), have access to psychosocial support, recreational and protective activities, and outpatient health services.
- Reunite children and adolescents with their families when possible or find alternative care arrangements. This includes family tracing, contact, rapid assessment, and reunification support in collaboration with public institutions and other humanitarian actors.
Phase 3 : Keeping Families Together
PERIOD
April 2023 – December 2023
BENEFICIAIRIES
- 50 unaccompanied or separated migrant minors who are part of the Colombian protection system and their families
- 50 children affected by the migration crisis in Venezuela who are part of the Colombian protection system but are at high risk of being separated from their families
- 25 families affected by the migratory crisis in Venezuela at imminent risk of losing parental care
OBJECTIVES
This new phase of the project will once again contribute to the protection of the most vulnerable children and adolescents affected by the migration crisis in Venezuela, but the actions are evolving. Protection services will be set up. Isolated migrant children in care will be reunited with their families through individual case management. Migrant families at high risk of losing parental care will be strengthened and supported to continue living together through the implementation of a family protection service.
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All donations to SOS Children’s Villages Monde Luxembourg are tax deductible within the limits set by article 109, paragraph 1, n°3 of the income tax law.