Annual Performance Progress Report: Conectando Caminos por los Derechos (CCD) - July 1 – September 30, 2020 (FY20/Q4)

CCD aims to improve citizen security and community cohesion in migrant receptor communities in Colombia by preventing human rights violations, strengthening human rights protections, responding to human rights violations, and responding rapidly to changing circumstances and needs. CCD is implemented by the PROGRESS consortium, including Pact, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), Freedom House, and Internews. The Activity prioritizes human rights violations that population in receptor communities are currently most vulnerable to, identified as labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced recruitment, human trafficking, forced disappearance, and gender-based violence (GBV). Since CCD's implementation began in May 2020, the project has focused on the effective startup of the program, including remote recruitment and onboarding of program staff, development and roll-out of complementary analytical activities in phase 1 municipalities, structured relationship building with key stakeholders, and the development of the framework for and roll out of the Rapid Response Fund (RRF). Throughout FY20, CCD made progress towards the Inception Period objectives, and began developing a robust communication strategy and practices. The project staff and the HRSM consortium surge team quickly adapted to the new reality of COVID-19 restrictions, carrying out essential tasks such as staff onboarding, Inception Period and Year One strategic planning, and field data collection, all through remote means. CCD laid the foundations for the four-year Activity implementation through bilateral meetings with key government counterparts at the national, departmental, and municipal levels, as well as with USAID programs and national and local civil society organizations (CSOs). These efforts helped complete the landscape and delineate actor maps, as well as CCD's potential opportunities for partnerships and program development in priority metropolitan areas. The migration context has been heavily affected by COVID-19 and ensuing border closings declared by the Venezuelan government and Colombian authorities. News of evictions, increased tensions, and rising xenophobia, as well as reports of migrants conglomerating in border cities, have dominated news outlets in Colombia in FY20. COVID-19 has severely impacted Venezuelan migrants, particularly those already traveling through the country under dire conditions, as well as those struggling to bring in sufficient income to feed their families. Within the migrant populations, of special concern are children, adolescents, women, and ethnic communities, who have been disproportionately affected by the effects of the pandemic, as well as by government measures taken to control it. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), between February and May 2020, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) reported that 867 Venezuelan children (of whom 161 were unaccompanied) entered child protective services, marking an increase of 19.6% compared to the same period the year before. CCD is now positioned to incorporate the Inception Period efforts and findings into the Year One Implementation Plan and to begin connecting the roads of migrant populations and receptor communities in the protection of their basic human rights.