Joint survey and data on newly-arrived refugees in Peru

The project in brief

Implemented by

UNHCR Peru

Country

Peru

Duration

Project began in July 2018 and it has been completed. It was launched on June 27^th 2019.

Description

Process:

• UNHCR opened its Peru office in April 2018, to jointly coordinate with IOM the response to refugees and migrants in the country. UNHCR and IOM jointly set up a coordination structure: The Refugees and Migrants Working Group (GTRM) in May 2018. The GTRM proved to be a best practice in coordination for response, bringing together humanitarian actors in the country. Through the GTRM, several organizations had the initiative to gather data on Venezuelan refugees in Peru (IOM, UNFPA, UNHCR, World Bank).
• Until end 2018, Peru had over 650,000 Venezuelans in its territory (source: Migrations). Of these, over 220,000 were asylum seekers (source: Special Commission for Refugees).
• Given the sharp influx of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in 2018, there was very little information on the situation and dynamics of these populations in Peru. Information was fragmented and focused mainly in Tumbes and Lima (main entry point at the northern border and main arrival point in country). 
• The Government expressed interest to have better data on Venezuelan populations in Peru and lead the conduction of the first joint survey on Venezuelans in Peru (ENPOVE).

The data set and report are public here.

Project aims

The project aimed at providing reliable and jointly agreed, solid evidence on trends, characteristics, vulnerabilities, capacities and international protection needs of Venezuelan refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Peru. This contributed to a better comprehension and analysis of the situation and contributed to the design and set-up of institutional responses for protection, assistance, integration and solutions. 

Resources used

Financial: the five supporting organizations provided joint financial support for the design, data collection, analysis and final report. In addition, the National Statistics Institute provided in-kind contributions (technical capacity, staffing).

Technical: Expert staff from the National Statistics institute, information management capacity and support from UNHCR, IOM, UNFPA, UNICEF and World Bank, and technical advice through all the phases of the project.

Policy change: ENPOVE provides key resources for policy change in favour of Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and host communities.

Partners 

• Peruvian Government
• INEI (National Statistics Institute)
• IOM
• UNFPA
• World Bank
• UNICEF

Challenges and how they were overcome

Challenges

Coordination throughout the phases of the project was very good between the six institutions involved. The project entailed technical, administrative and logistic challenges:

• Technical challenges: there was no updated data source (registration, other) to create an initial sampling frame.
• Administrative challenges: channeling resources to a State institution was not easy due to lengthy procedures and bureaucratic obstacles.
• Security: collecting data in insecure areas, very late at night was a challenge for enumerators. Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants normally return to their homes late in the evening, and the data collection teams had to adapt their schedules and routes to the realities of the Venezuelan populations.
• Time frame: Due to budgetary time constraints, data collection had to be completed before 31 December 2018. This added extra pressure to the data collection teams, who addressed this challenge in a very successful way.

How they were overcome

Technical challenges: The National Statistics Institute had to develop creative yet solid sampling method to ensure technical consistency (use of census data, density mapping, and registration of selected areas).

Administrative challenges: were overcome through constant communication between organizations and creative thinking to overcome obstacles. All six organizations were flexible in seeking ways to overcome challenges, keeping in mind the overall goal of achieving the project and contributing to solutions for Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Peru.

Security challenges: were overcome through the National Statistics Institute’s knowledge of the areas, mapping, and constant follow-up and timely solutions in case of incidents. No major security incidents took place during the data collection phase. Enumerators had medical and accident insurance.

The National Statistics Institute actively contributed to completing data collection during the established time frame, increasing the number of enumerators and adjusting schedules.

Results of the Good Practice 

• The Survey Directed to the Venezuelan Population Residing in Peru (ENPOVE) is the first exercise that provides solid evidence for public policy, programme and project design in Peru: AGD disaggregated information for all individuals allows to identify and target specific needs of different populations.
• ENPOVE was led by the government, allowing for stronger appropriation and use of data.
• ENPOVE provides information about populations in regular and irregular situation: Irregular populations are, traditionally, not surveyed and their characteristics are less known.
• ENPOVE provides useful information on access to services, barriers to access, discrimination, SGBV and other issues relevant for integration.

How the project meets the GCR Objectives

This project is very much aligned with two of the four objectives of the GCR since through solid and jointly agreed upon data, the State and other organizations have now the possibility to tailor programs for Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and host communities. All this according to their needs and taking into consideration AGDM, enhancing their possibilities for local integration.

The survey, led by the National Statistics Institute with technical and financial support of IOM, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Bank is the first nation-wide, representative data collection exercise on Venezuelans in Peru and provided solid evidence for action, which is now available for the State, non-state and international institutions.

Objective 1: Ease the pressures on host countries

The ENPOVE experience (working jointly with the State, UN organizations and an international financial institution) can be replicated in other countries and shows the value of State leadership, through data, to support host countries in designing solutions for their population, including host communities who receive Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.

Objective 3: Expand access to third-country solutions

Coordinated data collection and analysis provides better evidence for programming and solutions for Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Peru.  Reliable data in the country is key to improve the conditions of the populations that UNHCR works with, including host communities. Knowing the conditions of the Venezuelan population in Peru allows for better, tailored, responses that can include livelihoods and community-based protection strategies (integration, access to services, barriers to access, access to information, SGBV, discrimination, etc.). In this sense, the ENPOVE actively contributes to design appropriate solutions to Venezuelans in Peru.

Next steps 

In 2019, after the launch of the ENPOVE, additional products have been released based on ENPOVE data (health analysis by UNFPA, ongoing education analysis by UNICEF, ongoing protection analysis by UNHCR). In addition, ENPOVE data is the base for the ongoing analysis of impact of the arrival of Venezuelan populations in Peru, by the World Bank. This analysis was requested by the Peruvian government.

Discussions are ongoing how to continue gathering data on Venezuelan refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in 2020.