Mayor's Office of the City of Barranquilla
The Pitch
The Mayor’s Office of the City of Barranquilla centralized and expanded its resources for migrants to improve their access to city resources and help them build livelihoods.
The Problem
Resources for migrants in Barranquilla were scattered across separate locations and delivered through isolated programs. As the city with the fourth-highest migrant population in Colombia, this decentralization and lack of coherence between resources created significant barriers for migrants seeking assistance.
The Process
- Centralized migrant services in a refurbished, two-story urban center: the Center for the Local Integration of Migrants—the first “IntegrHabitat Center” in the world
- Organized outreach trips to migrant communities to deliver free medical services, conduct gender-based violence prevention workshops and hold activities for youth
- Piloted a program that provides migrants with the knowledge needed to enter the labor market
- Met with local companies to build connections between them and migrants
- Mentored 286 migrant entrepreneurs in partnership with the City of Barranquilla’s Center for Opportunities
The Impact
- Organized 25 outreach trips in partnership with Americares, the Foundation for Inclusive Social and Human Care (FUVADIS), the International Organization for Migrants (IOM), the Red Cross and others between February and December of 2021
- Ran 52 outreach events that registered 1,744 migrants to the Temporary Statute for Temporal Protection, providing them with a path to obtain legal migratory status in Colombia and connecting them with public services
- Registered 24,942 total migrants to the Statute for Temporal Protection as of 2022
- Provided vocational training, psychosocial support, legal documentation, educational workshops, food, transport and access to 200 employers in Barranquilla to 111 men and women via the employment pilot program
- Streamlined the process of connecting migrants to service programs and resources
- Supported the government to more effectively support the city’s migrant community and promote peaceful coexistence built on multicultural dialogue
