Routes of Hope: A Cross-Border Lifeline for Venezuelan Families in Transit
When borders blur, aid must adapt. World Vision’s route-based approach offers cash, tech, and trust to families navigating one of Latin America’s most complex migration crises.
Humanitarian aid has long been designed within national borders. But for Venezuelan migrants crossing South America, life doesn’t fit neatly into those lines. Nearly eight million Venezuelans have been forced from their homes, making this one of the largest displacement crises in the world. Escalating violence, economic collapse, and severe shortages of food and basic services are pushing families and children, across borders in search of safety. Their journeys are fluid, unpredictable, and fraught with risk. Recognising this reality, World Vision launched the Routes of Hope project in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, a ground-breaking pilot that reimagines humanitarian programming around migration routes, not countries.
Over nine weeks, 81 families (292 individuals) received unconditional cash transfers via prepaid cards, enabling them to buy food, pay for shelter, or even start small businesses along the way. In total, $33,693 was distributed—three transfers per family—giving migrants not just money, but dignity and autonomy. “This is about choice. Families know best what they need. Enabling choice, a chance to consent, increasing representation are pathways to operationalising dignity in humanitarian aid,” says Belete Temesgen, Director - Cash and Market Based Programming, World Vision International.
The innovation didn’t stop at cash. A WhatsApp chatbot provided real-time communication, guidance on protection, and referrals to health and psychosocial services—reducing re-victimization and the exhausting cycle of seeking help at every border. Crucially, a partnership with fintech provider AAvance gave migrants, many without formal documentation, access to modern financial tools for the first time, paving the way for financial inclusion.
The impact was tangible: reduced homelessness, improved protection for women and children, and greater decision-making power for families on the move. This approach challenges the status quo of humanitarian aid, proving that flexibility and mobility-centred design are essential in today’s migration crises.
As displacement continues across Latin America, scaling this model could redefine how we protect and empower people on the move, turning humanitarian assistance into a lifeline without borders.