USAID Deputy Administrator Paloma Adams-Allen (second from left) visited with EIP Chief of Party Oscar Guzman (third from left) at an event in Lima, Peru, in March. (World Council photo)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) this month extended the flagship project of its Venezuela Regional Response Program through May 2026, awarding $14 million to World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) to continue implementation of the Economic Inclusion Project (EIP) in Peru and Ecuador on a much larger scale.
Launched in June 2020, the first phase of the Economic Inclusion Project helped Venezuelan migrants and vulnerable local residents in Lima, Peru, and Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador, achieve socioeconomic security by gaining greater access to financial products and services, entrepreneurship and employment programs, and services focused on the prevention of gender-based violence.
Those objectives will continue to be a focus over the next three years, but phase two of EIP will also prioritize:
Continuing to work with more than 50 partners and allies in both countries, EIP will also expand its reach in phase two to an additional eight cities. In Peru, EIP will add Trujillo, Arequipa, Ica, Tumbes and Callao as centers of implementation. Manta, Machala and Cuenca will now be part of the Project’s footprint in Ecuador.
USAID approved the extension shortly after WOCCU surpassed all the original target goals set for phase one of the Economic Inclusion Project. As of March 2023, EIP had helped:
EIP also surpassed its phase one goal of ensuring at least 60% of all project beneficiaries were women.
Some key target goals for phase two include providing an additional:
“We have a strong track record of success, and our entire team was very excited to see USAID validate that hard work with such a generous extension. We have already begun building out phase two of the Economic Inclusion Project and look forward to helping more Venezuelans and local vulnerable populations achieve greater economic security over the next three years,” said Oscar Guzman, Chief of Party for the Economic Inclusion Project.