TİKA support for Venezuelan Immigrants Living in Colombia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), after giving vocational training, donated textile gear to immigrant Venezuelan women who moved to the frontier towns of Colombia.

Located in the northeastern part of Colombia and bordering Venezuela, the Department of Norte de Santander is a region in which smuggling and illegal population movements are frequent as a result of geographical constraints and security vulnerabilities. Due to the increasing socio-economic problems in Venezuela, migration to this region is on the rise. Tens of thousands of people are forced to leave their country in the frontier region where the customs gates are opened periodically.

TİKA, as part of the project for providing employment of women in Cucuta, handed over to 15 women who are the breadwinner of their homes, industrial textile machines, computers suitable for designs and other equipment which will help the production process to commence. The women who lives in the region and emigrated from Venezuela because of the harsh conditions now have the opportunity to set up their own businesses thanks to the donation.

After a month of vocational courses which started in August, the equipment which is needed for the production has been delivered to the Venezuelan women with a ceremony. Local authorities from the Santander District Directorate of the National Service of Learning (SENA) and Cucuta Chamber of Commerce thanked Turkey while expressing that the project is a pioneer in the field of micro-development. Moreover, the Venezuelan women who took courses on textile and now have their own capacity of production, expressed their gratitude to Turkish people.