ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• The United Nations and other humanitarian actors continue to respond to the humanitarian situation throughout the country. Among other achievements, more than 306,000 students benefited from educational activities in 529 schools in October; more than 189,000 vulnerable people accessed drinking water between May and October and 125,000 people benefited from food security activities, such as food production and distribution in October.

• More than 150 humanitarian actors participated in workshops on humanitarian access in the four Field Coordination Hubs (CCTs for its acronym in Spanish) to analyze access challenges.

• Within the framework of developing the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) 2020, consultation workshops were organized in the four CCTs, in Caracas, Ciudad Guayana, Maracaibo and San Cristóbal.

• According to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS), $ 177.4 million has been received in 2019 for humanitarian activities (as of 6 December). This includes funds mobilized before and through the Humanitarian Response Plan and funds received by organizations that do not have projects in the Plan (such as the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement).

Humanitarian Response Plan: Key figures
7M
People in need of humanitarian assistance
2.6M
Target population of the Humanitarian Response Plan 2019
$223M
Funds required to implement the Humanitarian Response Plan 2019
306,056
Students benefited in 529 schools in 11 states in October 2019
125,000
People benefited from food security activities in October 2019

SITUATION OVERVIEW

• In October, with the beginning of the new 2019-2020 school year, members of the Education Cluster reported an increase in regular school attendance. They have benefited more than 300,000 children through the delivery of school supplies kits, recreation activities, school reinforcement or complementary activities that aim to deepen the knowledge acquired in classrooms and psychosocial support. Child attendance is more stable in schools where the Government School Feeding Program still operates on a regular basis or where NGOs are providing school feeding programs.

• The results of the access workshops conducted in the four CCTs, where more than 150 humanitarian actors participated, indicate that there are various access challenges. These are mainly related to bureaucratic restrictions that affect the entry of organizations, personnel and inputs into the country, logistical impediments due to the lack of fuel and basic public services such as electricity, transport and telecommunications, insecurity, including the presence of irregular armed groups in some areas and popular demonstrations against the lack of services. These obstacles cause delays and reductions in humanitarian activities, as well as an increase in operating costs. The politicization of humanitarian assistance also affects the operating environment and highlights the importance of ensuring respect for humanitarian principles by all stakeholders.

• Heavy rains caused a landslide in Machiques, in the state of Zulia, on 3 October, which left at least five dead, several missing and an estimated 2,000 families affected. The authorities activated emergency response mechanisms and delivered two shipments carrying twelve tons of water and food to the communities in the affected area.

• Between 19 and 21 October, a joint inter-agency mission was conducted to Delta Amacuro State, which included the United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) together with the Ministry of Popular Power of Health. The objective was to analyze the socioeconomic situation of the Warao indigenous community in the state. The preliminary findings indicate that the priority needs of the population are health, nutrition, safe water and education. There are many communication and access challenges, given the internal migration to Tucupita (Delta Amacuro), Cambalache (Bolívar), and external migration to Brazil. The existence of endemic diseases such as diarrhea or vomiting and respiratory and cardiovascular conditions were also found; there are concerns over HIV/AIDs infections given the large number of positive cases in both adults and children.