Colombia

The Colombian Government’s Income Solidarity Programme provides financial support to those most in need to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on households. Vulnerable Venezuelans have been enrolled in government assistance initiatives such as the "Solidarity Income Programme" and the "School-Feeding Programme", based on the delivery of food kits

On January 9, 2023, Chile and Colombia signed a joint advisory opinion request to be presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), aiming to clarify the scope of the state obligations for responding to the climate emergency under the frame of international human rights law. The request acknowledged the human rights effects of the climate emergency, especially highlighting the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems in Latin America. In this line, Colombia and Chile emphasized the need for regional standards to accelerate action to confront climate change. 

In February 2021, the Colombian government launched the Temporary Protection Status (Estatuto Temporal de Protección para Migrantes Venezolanos, or ETPV), a legal mechanism which facilitates the transition of migrants from an emergency migratory regime to a regularization status, granting access to formal employment, education, healthcare, and financial services for almost two million Venezuelan migrants and refugees. 

In accordance with the local development plan, in 2020, the city government of Barranquilla (Colombia) created the Local Integration Centre for Migrants (CILM, for its Spanish acronym), which provides orientation, referrals, and support to Venezuelan refugees and migrants, as well as Colombian returnees from Venezuela, to grant them access to procedures and services. 

The main objectives are three: 

Barranquilla commits to implement the PA'LANTE project from June 2023-December 2024 to support 500 migrant and refugee families with a comprehensive service approach to support their socioeconomic, cultural, and urban integration.

The Temporary Protection Status (TPS) is expected to benefit over 1.8 million Venezuelans currently living in Colombia and others entering via official checkpoints over the course of two years. The creation of the TPS is an unprecedented event in the country's history and the region because it allows eligible Venezuelans to regularize their stay and reside in Colombia for ten years, which includes accessing a full range of rights such as identification documents, healthcare, education, formal employment, and financial inclusion, among others.

Colombia launched the program Empléate sin Fronteras (Employment without Borders), which seeks to reactivate economic local territories and to reduce socioeconomic gaps by providing opportunities to migrants and returning Colombian migrants alike.

The Colombian government has implemented Diálogos Fronterizos por la Vida (Border Dialogues for Life), which seeks to engage migrants and host communities together to design concrete solutions for the problems that affect both groups.

This action was submitted through the GFMD Mayors Mechanism Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

Medellín is a recipient of the Global Cities Fund, the Mayors Migration Council’s response to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people.

This action was submitted through the GFMD Mayors Mechanism Call to Local Action for Migrants and Refugees.

Colombia has faced the second largest migratory crisis in the world with Bogotá being the Latin American and Caribbean capital with the most Venezuelan migrants in its territory. Currently there are around 397.716 venezuelan migrants in Bogotá, 21.7% of the total migrant population in Colombia.