From displacement to integration: building productive and protective communities

The project was implemented by United Nations Educaitonal, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Peru and the University of Azuay (UdA) in Ecuador and Peru. It began in August 2022 and ended in July 2024.

This binational, multi-stakeholder initiative trained school administrators and teachers in interculturality and inclusion to facilitate Venezuelan's access to education and foster inclusive learning environments. It provided refugee and migrant children with courses aligned with the Peruvian curriculum, offered technical-university training, and supplied formal certification and seed capital to enhance employment prospects for displaced Venezuelans, including LGBTQIA+ individuals. The programme also promoted cultural ventures between refugee, migrant, and host communities to generate income and job opportunities.

This initiative addressed the lack of livelihoods and decent work opportunities for Venezuelan refugees, migrants, and vulnerable host community members by enhancing access to employment and supporting the development of entrepreneurial and self-employment ventures.

Cultural and creative enterprises were encouraged to build bridges between cultures, fostering integration and creating inclusive, protective environments while generating economic opportunities.

Educational training for refugee and migrant children in the Peruvian and Ecuadorian school systems, coupled with intercultural training for teachers and administrators, aimed to reduce institutional, social, and cultural barriers within schools.

An additional goal was to provide livelihood opportunities for Venezuelan trans women, addressing the triple discrimination they face as Venezuelans, refugees/migrants, and trans individuals, to help them move away from survival sex work.

Main activities of the Good Practice

This initiative focused on integrating interculturality in both the Peruvian and Ecuadorian educational systems. In Peru, UNESCO delivered training on interculturality and educational inclusion during the Ministry of Education's educational management week, ensuring diversity and inclusion were incorporated into pedagogical and institutional processes. They trained public officials, school principals, and local educational authorities, developing comprehensive guides on the intercultural approach.

UNESCO also provided a non-formal distance education course for Venezuelan children who could not access or had withdrawn from the Peruvian system. This course covered key subjects from the national curriculum, helping students maintain educational continuity despite the challenges of displacement.

The "Venezuela Presente!" programme, conducted by UNESCO Peru, offered specialized training for cultural workers in various creative and heritage fields. These personalized sessions focused on developing and formulating cultural projects, providing both technical knowledge and logistical support to strengthen cultural economic initiatives.

In Ecuador, the UdA collaborated with authorities and NGOs to offer technical training to vulnerable community members, refugees, and migrants. This included disabled individuals, violence survivors, LGBTQIA+ people, and those at risk of labour exploitation. The programme provided training in food processing (confectionery and baking), fashion, and electrical engineering.

Meanwhile, UdA in Ecuador supported the regularization of immigration status to facilitate economic integration and access to social and legal protections. Comprehensive social support to displacement-affected communities included medical, psychological, and educational care for displaced and host communities. The UdA supplemented this with business training and seed funding to kickstart entrepreneurial ventures.

Elements which helped facilitate the implementation of the good practice

Aligning training on education and inclusion with the educational management week, which was promoted by the Peruvian Ministry of Education, helped facilitate the uptake of the training and integrate it within the wider educational system in Peru.

The cultural component of the intervention aligns with Objective 1 of the National Culture Policy for 2030, issued by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, which aims to strengthen the appreciation of cultural diversity.

Partners involved

• CHILDFUND Ecuador (INGO)
• IDEHPUCP Peru (University)
• WeWorld (PERU)
• Grant Funding and Management Partners: European Commission Department for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and UNOPS Geneva Lives in Dignity Grant Fund

What challenges were encountered in delivering the project and how were they overcome?

Challenges

1. Lack of technical components related to interculturality in the educational management plans of the Ministry of Education and the Local Educational Management Units. As a consequence, there was a lack of awareness among teachers and local officials about the value of the intercultural approach and the positive assessment of migrants.
2. Attrition of participants during the training process and during the acquisition of seed capital. More specifically, during the training process of project participants, the dropout rate was around 10 per cent of those enrolled. The desertion of Venezuelan refugees and migrants was mainly for personal reasons; many indicated that they left to visit a sick relative, arrange their papers, or sell their houses in the hope of returning. However, most of those who left did not return.
3. Due to high economic vulnerability, Venezuelans did not have the resources to use cellular data to participate in virtual courses.
4. The work of the UdA with populations in and around Guayaquil was a great challenge due to insecurity, which meant they could not participate in person, which could have hindered the training process.

How they were overcome

1. Learning and reflection sessions on interculturality and inclusion were created with local teachers and managers in the three participating cities.
2. One challenge – that of dropouts – was overcome by replacing those who had returned to their country of origin or left for other destinations with new project participants. This involved searching the database for potential candidates, interviewing them, and assessing their suitability to join the project. Although this adjustment of participants caused a slight delay, as new people needed to catch up with training on entrepreneurship and develop their business plans.
3. As a risk mitigation measure, families participating in the virtual course were provided with cellular data that allowed them to connect to the Internet and access the virtual classrooms of the course.
4. The desire of participants in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to improve and learn was remarkable, which allowed UdA to successfully complete this group's training with the help, through the provision of training space, from a university in Guayaquil and conducting workshops during the weekend - which allowed for wider participation.

Results of the Good Practice

• 31,885 people were reached through social and traditional media with messaging aimed at reducing discrimination and encouraging and enabling Venezuelan children to access inclusive and comprehensive education.
• Updated educational management documents enhance the first-day school experience for refugees, migrants, and host communities.
• Dialogue between Venezuelan families and local educational authorities has facilitated answering various queries about accessing the educational system and increased attention to this vulnerable population.
• 60 cultural agents have advanced their cultural projects and/or accessed new sources of financing to strengthen the cultural sector.
• 265 UdA-supported entrepreneurs are now working in food manufacturing, food processing, electrical engineering, and sewing, and have increased their income.
• Venezuelan transgender participants reported a greater sense of security and well-being, and less need to resort to survival sex work.
• 604 Venezuelan children have been integrated into the national education system; education being crucial for developing sustainable life plans and future livelihoods within the community.

In what way does the good practice meet one or more of the four objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees?

Objective 1: Ease the pressures on host countries

The first objective is addressed in both Peru and Ecuador, where educational authorities and teachers have been supported to better integrate Venezuelan children into the national education system.

Additionally, other national, regional, and local authorities – such as the police, the prosecutor's office, and labour authorities – were supported across this binational partnership, which lead to the alleviation of pressure on these authorities and contributed to the regularization of those displaced.

Objective 2: Enhance refugee self-reliance

The second objective was met by providing access to training, seed capital, and certification, as well as through the development of cultural initiatives. These measures helped project participants gain a degree of self-sufficiency and reduce their dependence on assistance.

Next steps

The Peruvian authorities are expected to promote the intercultural guide developed by UNESCO among other educational institutions and local governments, taking advantage of the first week of the school year.

In Peru, plans have been made to implement actions that complement the results achieved in training cultural agents. To this end, projects centred on cultural financing will be launched, helping to mobilize seed capital for cultural initiatives in each city.

In Ecuador, UdA connected with other locally-based projects funded by external entities. These projects will continue supporting participants through workshops, particularly focusing on finance and sales topics.

Are there areas in which support would be required to continue and/or scale up your good practice?

In Ecuador, longitudinal knowledge of how the supported enterprises evolved remained somewhat limited. Unfortunately, there wasn't sufficient time for extended follow-up. It would have been valuable to track the businesses from implementation through the following year, to understand desertion rates, reasons for discontinuation, and other long-term outcomes.

In Peru, there's a need to generate more data on the number of children outside the educational system. This information is crucial for developing policies, programmes, and projects that promote educational inclusion.