Final Evaluation Colombia - Population Movement (MDRCO014)

Since 2014, there has been a significant increase in Venezuelans seeking refugee status worldwide, principally in the Americas. Colombia continues to be the number one receptor of Venezuelan migrants, with 1.7 million (35%). As of December 2020, 56% of the Venezuelan migrants in Colombia had an irregular status; this amounts to more than 983,000 people.

Aware of the corresponding rise in humanitarian need, the Colombian Red Cross Society (CRCS), in close partnership with other Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) movement partners, has been engaged in various initiatives targeting migrant populations. In March 2018, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the CRCS 2 worked together to put in place an Emergency Appeal (the Appeal, herein) aimed at providing health and complementary services (shelter, WASH, livelihoods, etc.) to people in need.

In 2021, IFRC commissioned IWORDS Consulting (part of IWORDS Global) to evaluate the Appeal against four criteria: relevance and coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. The evaluation was conducted virtually due to challenges such as COVID-19 and public order instability in Colombia. The latter led to a limited engagement of beneficiaries and volunteers that leaves an important gap in the data collection process, despite the measures taken for mitigation.

The evaluation process involved a thorough desk review; 41 key informant interviews with individuals involved in planning, implementing, and monitoring and evaluating the Emergency Appeal at the different levels; 5 interviews with beneficiaries engaged in the livelihood component (seed funding for enterprising); and participation in a lessons-learned workshop.