Geneva – Ahead of the International Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan refugees and migrants, to be co-hosted by the European Union (EU) and Canada on March 17, new IOM reports on the integration of Venezuelans across Latin America and the Caribbean prove that a lack of early integration support leads to lasting socio-economic disparities among migrant groups, which can have negative impacts across generations. 

IOM offices in Peru, the Dominican Republic and Brazil used a survey-based tool called the IPL Integration Index, part of an IOM Integration Measurement Toolkit, to gain insight into their levels of integration. This tool measures migrants' knowledge, resources, and capacities in six key dimensions of integration: psychological, navigational, economic, social, linguistic, and political. Over 10,000 interviews were conducted in total. 

While integration levels of all migrant groups tended to increase with the length of stay, migrant women show persistently lower integration scores than men across all three country contexts, regardless of length of stay, income, education and employment status. Similarly, the Brazilian study found significant disparities in integration outcomes between Haitian and Venezuelan migrants, with the former scoring persistently lower across all dimensions, regardless of length of stay, gender, income, education and other variables. 

The Peruvian study shows that having a secure residence permit leads to better integration outcomes for Venezuelans. Those with regular migratory status tend to have higher integration capacity and knowledge scores than those with irregular status. However, social belonging and intention to remain are similar between the two groups.  

The country studies reveal that early integration measures should be tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups and suggest a range of policies and programmes that could include, among other things, regularization, recognition of skills and qualifications, skills development, income-generating opportunities, and programmes that address mental health, psychosocial well-being, and social cohesion. The findings come handy ahead of the International Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants, which will reflect on the progress made on the response to the Venezuela crisis and mobilize additional support. 

“Applying a multi-dimensional approach to measuring integration provides insight into the intersectional nature of the various forms of inclusion and exclusion and how they can unfold over time,” says Monica Goracci, Director of Programme Support and Migration Management.  “The findings contained in these studies are critical for designing more effective integration interventions.” 

This new approach to measuring migrant integration is different from previous studies because it considers not only practical aspects like access to services and jobs but also social and relationship aspects. A practical guide on how to use this new approach will be available soon. 

For a more detailed look into the findings, below are the full country reports and an accompanying brief for the upcoming measurement toolkit: 

• Brazil [English] [Spanish] [Portuguese] 
• Dominican Republic [English] [Spanish] 
• Peru [English] [Spanish] 
• Brief: Multidimensional Integration Measurement Toolkit 

This exercise was carried out within the framework of the DISC Initiative in partnership with the Immigration Policy Lab at ETH Zurich and funded by the IOM Development Fund and the Geneva Science-Policy Interface. 

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For more information, please contact:

Ace Dela Cruz, Global Project Coordinator on Integration and Social Cohesion, IOM, acedelacruz@iom.int  
Jobst Koehler, Senior Integration and Training Specialist, IOM, jkoehler@iom.int 

For media inquiries:

Diego Pérez Damasco, Communications Officer for Asia and the Americas, IOM, diperez@iom.int, +41 79 582 72 35