Colombia

About Colombia

Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, home to more than 50 million people. Despite steady improvements in quality of life, there is still an extreme inequality gap between the rich and the poor. Nearly 1 in 3 people live below the poverty line, and an increasing number of families struggle to put food on the table.

While the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has impacted the entire region, Colombia has received the largest number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants. Nearly 3 million Venezuelans have sought refuge in Colombia, including large numbers of mothers, children, and women traveling solo. Health systems near the border need added support to provide essential medical services, especially prenatal and maternal health care.

Our Work

Increasing Access to Health & Protection Services for Migrants and Refugees 

Since 2019, Project HOPE has worked in the municipalities of Cúcuta and Villa del Rosario to address reproductive and maternal health needs of migrant women and girls. Our work increases access to free and quality health care in partnership with primary and tertiary care health facilities and a local community-based organization. In addition to reproductive and maternal health, Project HOPE and partners also provide complementary psychological consultations and psychosocial support.  

As part of this programming, Project HOPE provides medical staff surge support to increase access to obstetric and gynecological care; provides pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and medical equipment; and implements community-based workshops for pregnant women that provide information on prenatal care, available health services, and gender-based violence. We also provide psychological consultations to pregnant and postpartum women and implement community outreach to increase awareness of available health services through the program. 

Essential Health Services, WASH & Protection 

In 2024, Project HOPE launched a project aiming to further increase access to primary health and psychosocial support services for migrants and refugees in the municipalities of Cúcuta and Villa del Rosario and is expanding to the municipality of Convencion, a municipality affected by ongoing armed conflict. The program will provide support to a network of six health facilities and will include health personnel to provide primary health, OBGYN, and psychological consultations; pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and equipment; non-food item (NFI) kits, including hygiene and dignity kits; and infrastructure, WASH repairs, and facility rehabilitation. 

Training Health Workers in Noncommunicable Diseases and Maternal Health 

Project HOPE partnered with the University Foundation of Health Sciences and the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga in 2020 to develop and deliver virtual Continuing Medical Education (CME) curricula on the “Prevention, Management and Treatment of Noncommunicable Diseases” and on “Maternal Perinatal Care” for medical doctors and nurses. The curricula have a special emphasis on improving the quality of care for migrant populations, and to date, the programs have trained and certified thousands of medical doctors and nurses with training from departments all over Colombia. 

Our History in Colombia

Project HOPE first began working in Colombia in 1995, when we helped establish a regional emergency medical system at the request of local government, health facilities, and university partners. In 2018, Project HOPE deployed an emergency response team to assess the needs of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in municipalities in the Norte de Santander department. Today, Project HOPE continues to increase access to health services and mitigate health risks for migrants and refugees as well as vulnerable Colombian host community members in coordination with international and national stakeholders along with local health authorities. 

Responding to COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Project HOPE delivered personal protective equipment and ramped up vital training for frontline health workers in Colombia. We also supported contract tracing, lab confirmation, screening, and patient care to mitigate the risks of the virus near the Colombia-Venezuela border. We established a triage and screening system for respiratory patients in Villa del Rosario, working in coordination with the Pan American Health Organization and the Departmental Institute of Health.