With an investment of 13.5 m EUR, the project ‘Inclusive city, urban development and culture for a host country’ was launched

• This program seeks to promote job integration opportunities through culture and facilitate access to affordable housing for Venezuelan migrants and host populations.
• It is funded by the European Union, through LAIF, and the Korean Alliance Fund for Knowledge in Technology and Innovation (KPK), and is complementary to the funds provided in the form of credit by the Inter-American Development Bank to help improve the provision of infrastructure and services in these cities.
• The project will be implemented in Cúcuta, including Villa del Rosario; Riohacha, Maicao, Barranquilla, Medellín and Rionegro, main host cities.
• Four entities of the National Government are working in this initiative: MinCultura, MinVivienda and APC Colombia, with the coordination of the Management for the Border and Migration from Venezuela.

Bogotá, February 2, 2021. In order to promote the urban integration of the migrant population in five cities in Colombia, the project "Integrative city, urban development and culture for a host country" is launched today.

This project seeks to promote economic integration opportunities, facilitate access to affordable housing for Venezuelan migrants and host populations while strengthening the institutional capacity of beneficiary municipalities and metropolitan areas to help migrants and their host communities.

‘Integrative City’ will finance the design and implementation of local management systems, which will include a migrant care model to help them access urban services such as quality housing, employability routes and other social services.

In addition, this initiative will contribute to the economic integration of the migrant and local population, by allocating resources for the construction and launch of new Workshop Schools, a national strategy promoted by the Ministry of Culture, which seeks to improve the quality of life of the communities and safeguard the heritage of traditional professions and knowledge in the new generations.

Thanks to this component of the program, around 1,500 apprentices will be trained in traditional professions with real possibilities of employment and linked to the rehabilitation of their environment.

Likewise, in coordination with the programs of the Ministry of Housing, and with the support of the local management system, the municipalities that have received the greatest pressure in their housing indicators will be identified so that they can offer temporary rental subsidies to the migrant population.

The project also has the Rental Guarantee Fund (FGA) to support both migrants and low-income people to meet guarantee requirements and encourage homeowners to offer rental housing.

‘Integrative city, urban development and culture for a host country’ is a comprehensive commitment to help improve the provision of infrastructure and services in cities, and thus respond to the demands of the growing population under criteria of equity and sustainability.

For the execution of the project, designed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Management for the Border and Migration from Venezuela of the Presidency of the Republic, there is financing from the European Union -through the LAIF program- , which has allocated 44 billion pesos (10.2 million euros) non-refundable.

For its part, Korea, through the Korean Alliance Fund for Knowledge in Technology and Innovation (KPK), contributes US $ 4 million in technical cooperation. This financing complements the funds provided in the form of credit by the IDB to help improve the provision of infrastructure and services in these cities.

With technical cooperation from Korea, the program will be complemented with plans for densification or urban expansion, housing improvement pilots, as well as feasibility studies for public services infrastructure and institutional strengthening activities to expand access to basic services in neighborhoods with potential for welcoming new residents.

Taking into account migratory flows, the cities and metropolitan areas of Cúcuta have been prioritized, including Villa del Rosario; Riohacha, Maicao, Barranquilla, Medellín and Rionegro, with the possibility of incorporating other cities according to the evolution of migratory dynamics in Colombia.

According to the R4V Platform, as of January 5, 2021, 5.4 million Venezuelans have left their country, of which Colombia is home to approximately 1.8 million of them.