From a Humanitarian Exodus to Long-Term Growth Latin Americas Journey Responding to the Venezuelan Exodus

The convergence of the second largest refugee crisis in the world and the COVID-19 pandemic has left the more than 5.5 million migrants who have fled Venezuela in an even more vulnerable position. Lacking access to health care and often on the edge of poverty, these migrants and refugees have faced unprecedented challenges as the pandemic swept the globe, shutting down borders, taxing public-health systems, and leaving an economic downturn in its wake. The public-health crisis has also taxed the host governments trying to provide humanitarian assistance and avenues for migration for Venezuelans in the region.

In this World Bank-MPI webinar, speakers--including MPI President Andrew Selee, Canada's Minister of International Development Karina Gould, Colombian President Advisor Alejandra Botero, World Bank Vice President for Latin America Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, Vice President, Inter-American Development Bank's Felipe Munoz, U.S. State Department's Nancy Izzo Jackson, and Peruvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Allan Wagner--examined national and regional efforts to integrate Venezuelans in ways that maximize their human-capital contributions and ability to drive economic growth in their host countries. The discussion also considered how the international community can mobilize to transform this crisis into a development opportunity for the region.