CASE STUDY

From Displacement to Development: How Peru Can Transform Venezuelan Displacement into Shared Growth

Desde el desplazamiento hacia el desarrollo: Cómo Perú puede transformar el desplazamiento venezolano en crecimiento compartido

There are 5.5 million displaced Venezuelans around the world, with over one million living in Peru. The Government of Peru extended a relatively generous welcome, allowing Venezuelan health professionals to register and work in their professions to help fight COVID-19 and most notably issuing a special permit to grant one-year regular status to Venezuelans inside Peru. However, a wide range of legal, administrative, structural, and social barriers prevents many Venezuelans from being able to fully meet their needs or realize their rights in practice. As a result, many Venezuelans are struggling to make progress toward economic inclusion, stuck in lower-paid and more informal work. Many of the same issues also confront the Peruvian host population, and COVID-19 has exacerbated these struggles.

This case study is part of the “Let Them Work” initiative by Refugees International (RI) and the Center for Global Development (CGD). It outlines the barriers Venezuelans face in Peru to economic inclusion, the impacts of these barriers, and the steps that the Government of Peru, international organizations, donors, and the private sector could take to overcome them.

CITATION

Guerrero Ble, Martha, Izza Leghtas, and Jimmy Graham. 2020. From Displacement to Development: How Peru Can Transform Venezuelan Displacement into Shared Growth . Center for Global Development.

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