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Needs Assessment Report: Fonseca and Riohacha municipalities - La Guajira Department, Colombia (December 2019)

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1. Introduction

Contributing to the humanitarian efforts, in 2020 ACTED in Colombia intends to support vulnerable households in La Guajira Department. According to the International Organization for Migration, as of October 2019, 1,4 million Venezuelans have arrived to Colombia looking for new opportunities, and it is expected that this number will reach 2,4 million throughout 2020 (IOM Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Crisis – Overview, October 2019. A report published in October 2018 by the World Bank group and the State and Peacebuilding Fund (“Migración desde Venezuela a Colombia: impactos y estrategia de respuesta en el corto y mediano plazo”) situates La Guajira department as one of the three border areas where Venezuelan migration is mainly concentrated, along with Norte de Santander and Arauca. In these areas the number of migrants from Venezuela takes up for a high percentage of the total population. In la Guajira for instance, a range of 40,000 to 56,000 individuals from Venezuela (39,000 households) arrived during 2017. La Guajira is a region with high poverty rates, low access to basic commodities and slower economic development compared to other regions in the country. The arrival of migrants from Venezuela represents a challenge for both migrants and the local population and an additional constraint for the latter since they find themselves in a situation where they have to share limited resources as the provision of goods and services is scarce

In order to ensure a relevant project design and as part of its commitment to ensure the participation of the affected populations, ACTED conducts topical needs assessment. In the present report, ACTED gathered recently collected data collected through a needs assessment conducted by its Team. This assessment aimed achieving an understanding of the demographics of vulnerable population living in Fonseca and Riohacha, their needs and gaps, across multiple sectors.