At the end of October 2018, we visited the Republic of Colombia in South America and distributed donated clothing to support Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
The ongoing political, human rights, socio-economic and public order circumstances in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have led to a major outflow of Venezuelans into neighboring countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and beyond.
Colombia as a neighboring country with Venezuela has started its journey toward peace and stability after reaching Peace Agreements between the government and FARC-EP in November 2016, and emerging from over a half century of internal conflict. The nation had already been facing challenges as the internal conflict produced 7.7 million internally displaced persons, when it additionally received over 1 million Venezuelans. While Colombian government and people have made efforts to respond to the formidable needs of Venezuelans through increasing capacities of temporary shelters, schools, hospitals, etc., the support from the international communities is desperately required due to limited resources including financial support.

Fast Retailing’s clothing donations to refugees and displaced persons have been conducted through the Global Partnership with the UN Refugee Agency, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) since 2007. This is a second donation for Fast Retailing to provide clothing to Colombia since 2017.
Colombia has been building a pathway toward harmonious co-existence between Colombian host communities and Venezuelans in partnership with neighboring countries and support from international organizations. This is our report on handing out of clothing with support from UNHCR.