The Honourable Randeep Sarai, Secretary of State (International Development), announced that the Government of Canada will provide $77.6 million to fulfill the following projects in Peru and Colombia.
Project: PROMESA - Peruvian Response for Opportunities of Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees in Employment and Sustainable Income Generating Activities
Partner: Cuso International
Funding: $6.15 million (2025 to 2031)
This project aims to improve the inclusive, sustainable, and gender-sensitive socio-economic well-being of Venezuelan migrants, refugees, and vulnerable host community members in Peru-especially women, Indigenous peoples and LGBTQI+ individuals. It offers training to enhance employment opportunities and help regularize migration status, partners with the private sector to reduce barriers to decent work, and strengthens government capacity to deliver inclusive, gender-responsive livelihoods programming.
Project: ELLAS+ Resilientes - Adapting women and young entrepreneurs to climate change
Country: Peru
Partner: Développement international Desjardins (DID)
Funding: $9.2 million (2025 to 2031)
This project aims to boost the economic resilience of agri-entrepreneurs in Peru's Alto Mayo region-especially women and youth from Indigenous Awajún communities-by promoting climate-smart agriculture. It provides training in sustainable agroforestry, improves access to green financing, strengthens producer networks and supports Amazon-based products, all while helping restore forests and ecosystems.
Project: CACAO+ - Climate Alliances and Cooperatives for an Amazon with More Opportunities
Country: Peru
Partner: SOCODEVI
Funding: $15.15 million (2025 to 2030)
This project aims to enhance the climate resilience of vulnerable cacao producers and their families-particularly Indigenous communities-in Amazonas, Cajamarca and San Martín. It promotes climate-smart, nature-based solutions to boost productivity and fight deforestation, while strengthening cooperatives and market access. The project has a strong focus on women's empowerment and ensures greater participation in families, associations and the cacao sector.
Project: Integrated Fire Management and Restoration of Forests and Post-Fire Ecosystems in Colombia and Peru
Countries: Colombia and Peru
Partner: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Funding: $12 million (2025 to 2031)
These initiatives aim to reduce the impact of wildfires on local populations, forests and landscapes through prevention, monitoring, sustainable agriculture and ecosystem recovery. Using an integrated territorial approach, the project promotes ecological restoration, inclusive governance, and a shift to sustainable farming. It also encourages nature-based solutions and gender-sensitive, intercultural governance mechanisms.
Project: Gender-Responsive Ecosystem-Based Adaptation - Transforming Cesar's Sustainable Future
Country: Colombia
Partner: Global Green Growth Institute
Funding: $6.2 million (2025 to 2029)
This project aims to enhance climate resilience and improve the well-being of communities-especially women and youth-along Colombia's mining corridor in the Department of Cesar. It supports gender-responsive policies for a climate-adaptive transition from coal, promotes ecosystem-based solutions for small businesses and expands access to financing. Together, these efforts position Cesar as a model for inclusive, sustainable growth in Colombia's shift to a post-fossil fuel economy.
Project: Standing Out - Generations Beyond Violence
Country: Colombia
Partner: Profamilia
Funding: $7.2 million (2025 to 2029)
This initiative aims to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) against girls, adolescents, and young women aged 11 to 28 in Medellín, Cali, Uribia, and Dibulla, Colombia. The project focuses on 3 key strategies: challenging harmful gender norms and practices, empowering young women and girls to increase their autonomy and improving access to sexual and reproductive health services-including GBV prevention, detection and psychosocial support.
Project: COMPETE - Creating Opportunities through Market Participation and Economic and Trade Empowerment of Women-led SMEs in the Andean Region
Countries: Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador
Partner: Trade Facilitation Office (TFO)
Funding: $5 million (2025 to 2029)
This project aims to reduce poverty by boosting the economic well-being of women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural and remote areas of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. It strengthens local trade institutions to deliver gender-responsive support and helps women-led businesses connect with Canadian buyers and improve their export offerings. In Peru, ProPeru will support women-led SMEs in agri-food and home textiles; in Colombia, ProColombia will focus on agri-food, handicrafts and home decor.
Project: PROGRESAR+ - Strengthening climate adaptation for women and young entrepreneurs (Previously announced in Ecuador by Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade)
Countries: Colombia and Ecuador
Partner: Développement international Desjardins (DID)
Funding: $16.7 million (2025 to 2029)
This project aims to strengthen climate resilience and economic well-being for women and young agri-entrepreneurs in Colombia and Ecuador's Andean-Amazonian region. It promotes climate-smart agriculture rooted in traditional and innovative practices, supports producer associations in boosting productivity and biodiversity, improves access to tailored financial services and advances inclusive climate financing for smallholder and marginalized enterprises.
