Gender-Sensitive Capacity-building to Manage Irregular Migration Between Colombia and Venezuela

The department of Norte de Santander in Colombia has been considerably affected by the closing of the border with Venezuela, prompting an economic crisis with severe consequences for commercial flows, employment, and population income.

At the same time, Colombians continue to migrate to Venezuela in search of income-generating opportunities, while others have been driven to return in response to the 2015 humanitarian crisis. At the moment, border municipalities lack the capacity to accommodate such high demands on employment, which has generated xenophobic sentiment, largely directed at women and children.

To address this issue, this project proposes to implement strategies to prevent and manage these irregular migratory flows in the border zones of Colombia and Venezuela. To this end, the project will 1) build the capacity of local authorities and social organizations to meet the needs of migrants and 2) contribute to improve the social and economic conditions of rural populations through the implementation of income-generating pilot initiatives.

The project serves to operationalize the IOM Indicative Work Plan (IWP) framework with the Colombian Government (2015-2019), and aligns with the country’s National Development Plan (2014-2018). As per the first objective of the IWP, the project will “contribute to strengthening State capacities to promote orderly migration at the territorial, national, regional, and international level, with a tailored approach to sustainable development.”