The migration flow caused by the Venezuelan crisis is an unprecedented event for a country like Ecuador. More than 5.2 million Venezuelans have left their country. Among them about 1.1 million children and adolescents, many of whom have reached Ecuador as separated, unaccompanied or as members of a family at risk.

COOPI works in the framework of this humanitarian crisis, offering better conditions and access to protection and safety for Venezuelan children and adolescents and their families. To reach these objectives, COOPI staff will strengthen the local rights protection system, with an improvement plan and training for civil servants, a process which includes the socialisation of the protection protocols which have been developed. Furthermore, it will address beneficiary families by providing them with relevant information to access migration regularisation services, asylum applications and other basic services.

Besides, extremely vulnerable Venezuelan families hit by the crisis will receive monetary support to access protection services for their children (procedures, documents and expeditions’ costs).

Thanks to the project “Better conditions of access to protection and security for children and adolescents in the context of human mobility and their families in transit and/or residing in Ecuador” funded by UNICEF, COOPI will address more than 5,200 beneficiaries.