Location : Colombia based in Bogota

Starting Date : February 2020

Duration of Mission : 3 months

 

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilians’ victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by answering their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency.

The association leads in average 190 projects by year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 5 million people in 20 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and France.

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Humanitarian situation and needs:

Venezuela faces a major political, economic and social crisis, with hyperinflation, acute scarcity of food, medicine and other basic goods and one of the world’s highest murder rates. During widespread protests against Maduro’s government, dozens of opposition demonstrators have been killed. The July 2017 election of an all-powerful Constituent Assembly closed down almost all remaining democratic spaces, sparking widespread condemnation in the region and around the world. In recent years, almost 4.8 million people left Venezuela to live, mostly, in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and Chile. In the short term, migration places significant pressures on the provision of services, institutions, labor markets and the social dynamics of the receiving areas, affecting most the vulnerable populations in both the migrant and local communities.

Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelan migrants (1.6 million) and between 70,000 and 80,000 Venezuelan citizens cross the border with Colombia every day. While most return to their country the same day, others stay in Colombia. In early February, the Colombian government tightened entry restrictions and security along the border with Venezuela, deploying an additional 3,000 security personnel, and temporarily halted the processing of new border mobility cards. In absolute terms, Bogotá is the city with the largest number of migrants. However, in relative terms, the border areas (Norte de Santander, Arauca and Guajira) are the most affected, with the migrants representing between 2.5% and 5% of the population. These regions have development lags, which limits their ability to absorb migrants.

ICRC state that there is an estimated 400 to 800 ‘Caminantes’, the vast majority being Venezuelan (including People With Specific Needs (PWSN)), using the BGA route from Cúcuta each day, before continuing to any of their destinations. On this route, Caminantes arrive in BGA in poor conditions, after walking 390kms in a time of between 3 and 5 days. Some Venezuelans in Colombia live in precarious conditions, sometimes staying in public installations such as transport terminals, with multiple needs including shelter, protection, food security; health and WASH. Almost 70% of Venezuelans in Colombia are estimated to have irregular migratory status and are particularly vulnerable to violence and exploitation. They lack access to basic services and work. Only 40% of the migrant children are in school, and the migrant population is twice as likely to be unemployed than the local Colombian population.

Increased traffic along illegal border crossing routes has been reported since entry restrictions changed. Armed groups control many illegal crossing points, which leads to protection concerns for people using these crossings. Additionally, initial assessments report a high number of transactional sex practices used as coping strategies by women and adolescent girls, further exposing them to violence, exploitation, early and unwanted pregnancies, and health hazards (sexually transmissible diseases), while unaccompanied and separated children are also exposed to significant risk. Caminantes, especially those without proper legal documentation, who sleep in public areas in and around BGA are also subject to significant discrimination from the local population and pressure from the local authorities who remove them from these spaces.

Our action in the field:

Following many exploratory missions and the confirmation of a project submitted and validated, PUI aims to launch its humanitarian project covering protection, food security and MHPSS sector, as well as to develop its positioning and operational strategy in the country for 2020.

In Bucaramanga, PUI aims to mitigate serious protection risks that Venezuelan Caminantes, particularly PWSN, are facing on the dangerous migration route and within Bucaramanga, including exposure to violence, abuse, exploitation, and discrimination. To do so, PUI will partner with a local organization in Bucaramanga to provide accommodation, water and sanitation, and food to Caminantes. Within this Refuge, PUI Staff will also conduct Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) activities, and provide emergency transport, to this refuge.

As part of our activities in the Venezuelan Crisis in Colombia, we are looking for a Logistics Coordinator in Bogota

The logistics coordinator is responsible for the smooth functioning of logistics on the mission.  He/She makes sure the resources which are necessary for carrying out the programmes are available and actively participates in the mission’s safety management.

Tasks and activities: 

• Safety: He/She assists the Head of Mission with safety management. He/She is directly responsible of the daily, concrete aspects of the mission’s safety management.
• Supplies: He/She coordinates supplies and deliveries for projects and for the bases. He/She guarantees that PUI’s procedures and logistical tools are in place and are respected.
• Fixed equipment: He/She is responsible of the management of computer equipment, tele/radiocommunication equipment and for the mission’s energy supply.
• Car park: He/She is responsible of the management of the car park (availability, safety, maintenance etc), for the smooth functioning of the mission and the realization of activities in accordance with the available budget.
• Functioning of the bases: He/She supports the teams in case of redeployment/installation of bases.
• Representation: He/She represents the organization amongst partners, authorities and different local actors involved in the logistics and the safety of the mission.
• Coordination: He/She consolidates and communicates logistics information at the heart of the mission to headquarters and also coordinates internal and external logistics reports.

 

Do not hesitate to look at the job description here for all the details you need.

 

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