As of June 2020, Venezuela ranks as the second-largest displacement crisis in the world, with an estimated 5.1 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants worldwide. The scale of displacement has been “unprecedented […] in magnitude and speed” in Latin America, and will only be further complicated by the global pandemic.
While much attention has been paid to UN and international NGO responses to Venezuelan displacement, considerably less is known about how local actors, and faith communities in particular, have reacted. Catholic and Protestant local faith communities have had a role in supporting Venezuelan migrants in certain countries—indeed, it is often local groups that provide the first assistance to displaced persons in need.
This research has mapped and analyzed Protestant local faith community responses to Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Latin America and the Caribbean. It sought to identify the services provided, and to offer analysis of how local faith communities are responding, with the goal of giving visibility to important contributions already being made by local faith communities, and identifying additional opportunities that local faith communities may consider strategic or beneficial to ensuring high quality services and support to Venezuelan migrants across the region.
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