Welcoming Venezuelan Migrants, Innovations in Integration Policies in Colombia
Speakers examined issues of integration and social cohesion in Colombia, and explored how the international community could support countries receiving significant numbers of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in 2021.
The Colombian government estimated that by the end of 2021, more than 1 million of the 1.7 million Venezuelans eligible for an unprecedented regularization would have received temporary protected status that allows them access to social benefits and will make them eligible to gain a permanent resident visa within ten years.
Despite this policy, challenges remained, not only in Colombia, but more generally in Latin America as host countries worked to transform the socioeconomic integration of migrants and refugees into a development opportunity. At the same time, there was much to be done to increase social cohesion in the face of public concerns about the scope and magnitude of this migration. What strategies were implemented in Colombia so far and what can other countries in the region, and globally, learn from the Colombian experience?
In this webinar organized by MPI and the Department of Social Inclusion of the Organization of American States (OAS), speakers examined issues of integration and social cohesion in Colombia. The conversation focused on an innovative program by the Colombian government, Café por la Integración, which seeks to open spaces for dialogue with key stakeholder communities throughout the country. The webinar also explored how the international community can support countries that are receiving high numbers of Venezuelans, such as Colombia, while trying to enhance the situation for migrants as well the host communities where they reside.
The event was in Spanish and this is the live English interpretation to English.
Speakers:
Lucas Gómez García, Manager of Border Affairs, Office of the President of the Republic of Colombia
David Khoudour, Human Mobility Advisor, United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, Director, Department of Social Inclusion, Organization of American States (OAS)
Felipe Muñoz, Chief of Migration Unit, Inter-American Development Bank
Dan Restrepo, Strategic Consultant and Director, Restrepo Strategies
Paula Rossiasco, Senior Specialist in Social Development, World Bank
Andrew Selee, President, Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Moderator:
Diego Chaves-González, Senior Manager, Latin American Initiative, MPI
About the Global Program
The Global Program bridges policy advice, research, and candid dialogue to design effective migration policies, drawing on global evidence and anticipating the forces reshaping how people move.
Latin America and Caribbean Initiative
The Initiative combines rigorous research with direct engagement of governments, institutions, and stakeholders to help build orderly, rights-respecting migration systems across one of the world's most dynamic migration regions.
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