Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
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Between January and June 2022, UNICEF Venezuela life saving interventions reached around 1,099,115 people, including 612,848 children .
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UNICEF-supported hospital boat provided comprehensive care in the farthest parish of Antonio Díaz municipality in Delta Amacuro state where the population reports not having had access to health services in the last five years.
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76.5 per cent of 5,018 children with wasting in 20 states have been discharged as cured thanks to UNICEF nutrition supported programmes.
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88,126 children are regularly attending school in 318 facilities supported by UNICEF school feeding programme in 12 states, where the average attendance rate has increased from 38.7 in November 2021 to 91.4 per cent in June 2022.
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More than 190,000 people gained access to clean water through the rehabilitation of three water treatment plants3 in Bolivar and Delta Amacuro states.
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
7,000,000 People in need of assistance
3,200,000 Children in need of assistance
2,500,000 Children in need of education assistance
FUNDING OVERVIEW AND PARTNERSHIPS
In 2022, UNICEF appealed for US$317.2 million7 to reach 4.6 million people in need – including 2.6 million children – in Venezuela in a context further aggravated by the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). As of June 2022, UNICEF has mobilized US$ 56.1 million to support the implementation of child protection, education, health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions. Of this amount, US$ 44.3 million (79 per cent) was carried over from 2021, and US$ 11.9 million has been raised in 2022.
UNICEF expresses its sincere gratitude to all public and private donors for their continued support in 2022, including the Governments of Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, France, the United States of America (USA), the European Commission, the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF as per its Spanish acronym), and the French and USA National Committees for UNICEF for their generous contributions during the first six months of 2022. Despite these generous support, the funding gap is still large, at 82 per cent of the total annual requirement. UNICEF will continue efforts to expand partnerships and mobilize additional timely and flexible support to sustain its response to meet the needs of children in Venezuela.
UNICEF continues to work with national and local authorities, United Nations (UN) agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs)/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other humanitarian partners to achieve results for children, including raising awareness and mobilizing increased support for the realization of child rights. As part of advocacy activities to celebrate 55 years of UNICEF work in Venezuela, a photographic exhibition on children's rights was inaugurated in February 2022 in a public park in Caracas. This activity is being replicated in other cities, including Maracaibo and San Cristóbal. Additionally, in June 2022, UNICEF and The National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2004, signed a workplan for joint advocacy throughout the year.
SITUATION OVERVIEW AND NEEDS
Venezuela’s economy slightly improved in 2021, with the gross domestic product estimated to have closed by year-end at -1.5 per cent, and is expected to grow in 2022. Despite this positive macroeconomic outlook, the population still has limited purchasing power.
After a period of COVID-related slow-down, internal and external population movements are increasing again. In terms of inflows, 70,837 Venezuelan exits from Colombia to Venezuela through border posts10 have been reported between January and June 20221, compared to 48,674 throughout 2021. At the same time, in late February, the Venezuela-Brazil land border post opened for the first time since March 2020, reactivating the potential for economic exchanges between the countries.
Heavy rains in mid-April caused flood events and the loss of 150,000 hectares13 of agricultural land in Zulia, Merida, Táchira and Trujillo states as well as the Capital District, with four municipalities14 in the south of Lake Maracaibo being the most affected. As a result, on 27 April, the national government declared a 90-day emergency in these states15 . The United Nations system, together with NGOs and local authorities provided immediate lifesaving and relief support to meet urgent needs in WASH, food, nutrition, education access and protection of affected populations.