Over the years, Venezuela has been struggling with an unstable economy and poverty across a vast number of its population. In fact, according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), less than 8.8 million people out of the total population of nearly 29 million are not suffering from multidimensional poverty. That is only about 30% of the entire country’s population. This leads many Venezuelans to leave their country in search of better opportunities that are not present in their country. Most of these people often flee to other Latin American countries, with the most popular place being Colombia, with almost 3 million refugees from Venezuela as of 2023.

However, despite moving to Colombia, they still need support to help them above the poverty line. Fortunately, numerous organizations are assisting the Venezuelans in Colombia to overcome this crisis. Here are a few of them and what they do:

International Rescue Committee

Founded in 1933 by Albert Einstein to help Germans flee the Nazi regime, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a humanitarian non-governmental organization that support refugees from and residing all over the world. Later on, it expanded to the rest of Europe and in modern times, it assists refugees from all over the world, including the refugees from Venezuela in Colombia. Its main work in Colombia includes providing access to health care to the Venezuelans and ensuring the safety of their minors. The number of people it helped as of 2020 is 87,000.

HIAS

Originally established in 1903 as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, HIAS is another organization that focuses on global refugee aid. According to its website, HIAS has helped more than 150,000 refugees from Venezuela in their Colombia branch, mainly with economic inclusion programs and giving the refugees legal support for living in the new country.

ZOA International

ZOA International is a non-governmental organization that focuses on improving the living standards of impoverished people in multiple countries, including Colombia. While it does not specifically focus on refugees, the organization has the refugees from Venezuela as a major demographic that it supports in its efforts to help the Colombians in need, as many of them are in the country’s slums.

Its main method of support in the country focuses on providing food, water and implementing hygiene improvements to the people they help. For refugees specifically, it also gives emergency aid to provide them with better access to food and water.

Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a non-governmental organization that provides humanitarian aid to countries that are facing some form of insecurity, including economic instability. In Colombia, it helps the country’s most impoverished, including the refugees from Venezuela. In Colombia, its main work for the refugees from Venezuela are mainly emergency support such as money reserves, medical aid and providing internet in their shelters.

Project Hope

Project Hope is an organization that focuses on providing health relief to countries in need. Originally founded in 1958, it has provided health services all over the world by working with other organizations and often help to introduce systemic changes to the country’s health system.

In Colombia, the organization gives to the refugees from Venezuela by helping to train doctors, giving the refugees access to maternal health services and providing them with better access to essential items like pharmaceuticals or other medical supplies.

Education Cannot Wait

Founded in 2016, Education Cannot Wait is an organization working with the United Nations that focuses on giving refugee children better education opportunities, often leading to them breaking the poverty cycles in their families. Its main work in Colombia includes giving the children of the refugees from Venezuela safer environments, especially for female students. According to its website, the organization has helped more than 130,000 children in Colombia.

These are only a few of the organizations that are helping these refugees survive and overcome poverty in their new home of Colombia. While it is unclear if and when the economic crisis in Venezuela will end, the efforts of organizations like these and the people who support them can significantly help fight poverty for the refugees from Venezuela.

– Jose Gabriel Lopez

Jose is based in the United Kingdom and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

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