Colombia Situation and Microcredits

COLOMBIA SITUATION
(Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela)
Microcredits
No. 3
© UNHCR/Ecuador
order to achieve economic integration and selfreliance. Although banks are bound to recognize
refugees as clients, they frequently use
restrictive tools to hinder any opportunity to
provide them financial assistance.
Context
Migration notoriously affects living conditions of
refugees while adapting to new circumstances in
other countries. In certain occasions, they are
even forced to learn a new job or to work under
unworthy circumstances in an effort to keep a
good quality of life.
Discrimination and ignorance of the legal status
of refugee, as well as the required
documentation that certifies it, hamper selfreliance. To encourage development of
sustainable small businesses, UNHCR launched
The limited or lack of access to financial services
is one of the main problems refugees face in
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a microcredit programme that provides refugees
with
an
alternative.
Under
exceptional
circumstances such as those seen in Venezuela,
the programme benefits asylum-seekers who
count with the provisional documentation
required.
to supply credits to people living in refugeehosting communities in border areas. BPS
finances 100% of the loans.
How does microcredit work?
This instrument is developed to guarantee
people in need of international protection fair
access to financial services, by raising
awareness among financial institutions.
According to the local context, an agreement can
be developed in each zone between UNHCR
and a financial entity for the conditional donation
by UNHCR of a credit revolving fund in order to
promote an access to credits for refugees, locals
and migrants.
© UNHCR/Venezuela
For two years now, this public institution has
promoted the setting-up or strengthening of
hairdressers, poultry and agricultural farms,
handicraft
workshops,
carpenters
shops,
photography centres and food selling.
Based on the needs of each person or group of
people, a microcredit programme involves
training, technical assistance, legal advice and
formalization procedures that maximize the
success of productive activities, and allows
access to credit and other micro financial
services.
During the past two years, BPS granted
microcredits for the amount of US$ 690,000 in
Zulia, Táchira, Apure and the Amazon. As an
unprecedented step, 40 per cent of this amount
targeted projects of refugee families or asylumseekers, giving priority to women head of
household.
Microcredit programmes deal with
existing vulnerabilities of refugees while
improving the living conditions of
beneficiaries, empower women and
promote social cohesion.
On a small scale, Fundesta, Fudep and other
local micro-finance institutions have also joined
Additionally, they enable the
development of sustainable and
permanent working entities.
Microcredit benefits for refugees
• Contribute to social integration of
refugees and asylum-seekers under
conditions of dignity and respect for human
rights.
• Create direct or indirect employment
opportunities to provide comfort to each
beneficiary family and improve their lives.
• Facilitate coexistence between refugees
and their host communities.
Where are the programmes executed?
Venezuela
UNHCR launched a microcredit programme for
refugees and asylum-seekers in Venezuela in
2005. Funds were limited, but the programme
proved to be successful, and it has had a
positive impact on beneficiaries. The program
has been further developed by local institutions.
the mircrocredit programme for refugees.
Since 2008, Banco del Pueblo Soberano (BPS)
─ the largest micro-finance institution in the
country ─ developed an agreement with UNHCR
Four years ago, a Colombian teacher arrived in
Apure, after being threatened by an armed group
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of his locality. BPS granted him a microcredit
that enabled him and his wife to purchase
equipment to carve wood and make a living out
of it. “This house, the fridge and everything we
have, we owe it to our art crafts business”, said
his wife.
approximately US$ 52 million through almost
31,000 loans.
Ecuador
Ecuador hosts the largest refugee population in
Latin America, many of whom are victims of the
conflict in Colombia. It is estimated that more
than 135,000 people may be in need of
international protection, 40% of whom live in
rural communities located in the northern border
region.
Panama
Microcredit Programme for Refugees in Panama
was implemented with funds provided by
UNHCR for refugees recognized by the
Panamanian government, and the assistance of
Microserfin, a local institution that later on signed
an agreement with Red Cross Panama to
disburse the loans.
Local integration is the long lasting solution for
most of the refugees in Ecuador, and therefore
the country needs to implement policies that
generate employment opportunities to improve
the social environment. In 2009, Ecuador set up
revolving fund loans in urban areas that host the
majority of those in need of international
protection.
Apart from receiving up to three microcredits by
Microserfin, good payers may obtain a bank
reference to ask regular banks for a bigger loan.
Refugees who do not count with a bank
reference do not have the same advantages.
This is the case of a Colombian couple who
owns a tourism business offering trips and
transportation services in Panama. They were
granted three microcredits, and thanks to
Microserfin bank reference, a regular bank loan.
Women count for at least 50% of every fund
beneficiary. Specialized agencies and different
financial entities support the microcredit
programme in the states that shelter the majority
of persons in need of international protection
(Pichincha, Cuenca, Santo Domingo, Imbabura
and Carchi, Esmeraldas and Sucumbíos).
© UNHCR/Panama
© UNHCR/Ecuador
Costa Rica:
In 2004 and 2005, UNHCR provided the initial
capital and organized loan banks in Jaque and
Puerto Obaldia, both still active.
In Costa Rica, the microcredit programme
emerged in response to the number of
Colombians asylum-seekers between 2000 and
2002. Nowadays, there are more than 12,000
refugees and about 19,100 people of concern to
UNHCR in the country. Monthly average of
asylum-seekers (80 per month) has remained
constant during the last two years.
Microcredit Programme has been working with
Microserfin in Panama City for two years (2008
and 2009). UNHCR contributed US$ 22,000 to
the fund, providing loans to 60 refugees. On a
national level, Microserfin has channelled
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provides technical assistance and advice to
mircrocredit projects, teamed up with ACAI, an
NGO
specialized
in
local
integration
programmes. By the end of 2009, this joint
contribution benefited business women, who
counted for 56 per cent of loan beneficiaries.
Apart from this, 52 per cent of 36 new credits
were supplied to women between January and
March 2010.
Region
Ecuador
Quito, Santo
Domingo,
Cuenca,
Imbabura,
Carchi,
Sucumbíos,
Esmeraldas
447
Venezuela
Apure, Táchira,
Zulia and
Amazonia
148
Costa Rica
San José,
Desamparados,
Heredia,
Alajuela,
Puntaneras,
Guanacaste
and Limón
563 (families)
Panama
Panama City,
Darien
© UNHCR/Costa Rica
In 2004, UNHCR launched the programme as an
integrated part of the strategy to facilitate local
integration and auto-reliance of the population,
and 823 loans were granted by March 2010. The
training provided to women, and especially to
single mothers, strengthens gender perspective.
The microcredit programme turned out very
successful. APRODE, a micro finance entity that
Number of
Beneficiaries
Country
232
UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency mandated to protect more than 34 million refugees and
displaced persons around the world. For more information contact in Colombia: Francesca
Fontanini, telephone number: 571 6580600 ext 156, fontanin@unhcr.org – in Venezuela: Ligimat
Pérez, telephone number: 58 212 286 3883 ext 133, perezl@unhcr.org - in Ecuador: Andrea
Durango, telephone number: 593 22 460 330 ext 1128 durangoa@unhcr.org - in Panama: José
Euceda: euceda@unhcr.org - in Costa Rica: Andrea Vasquez: vasquez@unhcr.org; or visit
www.acnur.org.
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