Medellín’s Social Line 123 Provides Assistance to a Record Number of People Amid Expansion and Response to the Pandemic

• The increase occurred thanks to the expansion of the institutional offer that allowed greater coverage and efficiency.
• In response to the pandemic, the 123 Social team was doubled with professionals in different areas such as psychology and social work, among others.
• To guarantee differential attention, new modules such as 123 Migrants and 123 Diverse were deployed.

Through Social Line 123, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín has assisted 235,149 people in the four-year period, who have gone through social emergencies, thus achieving the highest number of accompaniment since this strategy was created, which, through the activation of routes , institutional offer, delivery of emergency humanitarian aid and psychosocial care, among others, has mitigated various problems.

Between 2012 and 2015, through this line, 55,114 services were carried out; while between 2016 and 2019, 67,777 were carried out. Since January 2020, the District of Medellín expanded the institutional offer and created new modules that allowed greater coverage and efficiency, so attention increased by 200%.

“We had the highest rate of people adequately served, through the 123 Social strategy. Medellín is consolidated as a receiving territory, in which we work daily to improve the quality of life of its citizens, regardless of their place of origin, their race, their gender or their social level.”, expressed the Secretary of Social Inclusion, Family and Human Rights, Isabel Cadavid.

For the District Administration, mental health has been a priority; For this reason, since the pandemic began, the number of professionals at 123 Social has doubled, currently having 63 people specialized in different areas, such as social work, psychology and customer service, who deal with social emergencies.

Likewise, and in response to the needs of the population groups residing in Medellín, new modules such as 123 Migrant and 123 Diverse were deployed in the current administration. This, in order to provide differential and quality support, avoiding saturation of the line.

In these processes, inter-institutional coordination with entities such as the GIFMM (Interagency Group on Mixed Migration Flows), the Diversity Management and the Secretariat of Social Inclusion, Family and Human Rights, which together work for a more egalitarian territory, has been of vital importance. and opportunities, ensuring the prevention of crimes against life.

“I feel very grateful to 123 Social because I have a special son, who suffers from dementia. When I called, they gave me help. At this time he is hospitalized. Many thanks to Line 123 Social. “Truly, this is what we needy people require,” said Bárbara Rosa Barrientos López, beneficiary of the service.

This line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and aims to provide guidance and referral in case of violation of rights, as well as care for people at risk of homelessness, abuse, psychological crisis and all those emergencies that put the integrity of human beings at risk.