FACT SHEET Venezuela August – October 2020 In mid-March, following the first reports of COVID-19 cases in the country, the Government of Venezuela declared a State of Emergency which is still in force across the country. This entailed the closure of land and air borders and the introduction of restrictions to internal travel and commercial activity. Throughout the reporting period, the GoV has continued to impose its unique “7+7” scheme, whereby quarantine restrictions to movement and business are introduced one week and lifted the next. The introduction of the State of Emergency coincided with the beginning of significant inflows of Venezuelans returning from other countries in the region, mostly as a result of lost livelihoods on account of the impact of the pandemic on local economies. Towards the end of the reporting period, the flow of returns slowed considerably, and many Venezuelans started to cross back the borders into Colombia, Brazil and beyond. As a result, the GoV closed some of the dozens of reception and quarantine centres at the border where UNHCR has been actively participating in the interagency response to returns and COVID-19 through distributions of hygiene kits and other NFIs to medical and reception centres, the setting up of triage structures and field hospitals along the border and the provision of modular Refugee Housing Units to medical, reception and quarantine facilities. The reduction of returns has led UNHCR to gradually refocus its resources on prioritised communities, natural disaster relief and the ongoing COVID-19 response. The reporting period has been characterised by severe gasoline shortages which have impaired UNHCR operations in border areas and at times even in Greater Caracas. These, along with the scarcity of cooking gas, the general lack of reliable water services and recurring power blackouts have led to widespread spontaneous social protests. HIGHLIGHTS FUNDING (AS OF OCTOBER 2020) ESTIMATED POPULATION OF CONCERN 620,000 (2020) USD 53.7 million requested for Venezuela REFUGEES & ASYLUM SEEKERS Refugees 9,111 Asylum seekers 49 Source: National Commission for Refugees Venezuela Persons in refugee-like situation: 58,810 COVID-19 CASES Reported in Venezuela 92,013 / 789 deaths Affecting PoCs 10,549 among spontaneous returnees UNHCR PRESENCE Staff: 114 Personnel: 90 national staff 1 affiliate workforce deployee 0 national interns 23 international staff Offices: 1 Representation in Caracas 4 Field Offices in San Cristóbal (Táchira), Guasdualito (Apure), Maracaibo (Zulia) and Ciudad Guayana (Bolívar) 1 Field Unit in Caracas www.unh cr.org 1 FACT SHEET Venezuela August-October 2020 Working with Partners ◼ UNHCR is implementing activities in 68 prioritised communities in 10 states, primarily in the border areas with Colombia, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago, but also in Greater Caracas and the nearby Miranda state. UNHCR is working with 19 implementing partners (AZUL Positivo, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Zulia Red Cross, Falcón Red Cross, Fundación Luz y Vida, Instituto Radiofónico Fe y Alegría (IRFA), Sociedad Wills Wilde, Fogones y Banderas, Fundación Casa Bonita, Fundación Soy un Guardian, Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), UniAndes Acción Popular, Comitato Internazionale Per Lo Sviluppo Dei Popoli (CISP), Comisión para los Derechos Humanos y la Ciudadanía (CODEHCIU), the Venezuelan Association of Health Services and Christian Orientation (AVESSOC) and Fundación Amigos del Niño que Amerita Protección (Fundana), as well as other local actors, including government institutions and NGOs. ◼ UNHCR leads the Protection and Shelter, Energy and NFI Clusters within the framework of the Venezuela Humanitarian Response Plan. ◼ UNHCR’s main Government partners are the National Commission for Refugees (CONARE) and the Office of the Ombudsperson (DdP). Main Activities ◼ UNHCR promotes and strengthens the protection and dignity of the most vulnerable population affected by the crisis in Venezuela, improving these persons’ access to goods and services, mitigating the risks to which they are exposed and helping ensure their survival and well-being. ◼ UNHCR is working with community structures, including outreach volunteers, women’s networks and youth networks, to engage communities in the implementation of projects identified by the communities themselves, seeking to improve community response and ensuring the sustainability of projects and community processes. Since 2018, UNHCR and its partners have been supporting the implementation of community projects related to nutrition, health, water and sanitation and education. ◼ UNHCR supports a national protection network that provides assistance and counselling to persons in transit and safe spaces for the attention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors and children at risk. The safe spaces provide confidential case management, counselling, psychosocial support, medical aid and legal services. ◼ UNHCR promotes international refugee law and refugee status determination procedures, encouraging State institutions to identify and refer persons in need of international protection to the asylum procedure. UNHCR and partners conduct capacity building activities with government institutions. ◼ In close coordination with UNHCR in Colombia, UNHCR Venezuela facilitates and supports the voluntary repatriation of refugees, ensuring that they are enabled to take well-informed and voluntary decisions and are repatriated in conditions of safety and dignity. Since 2015, UNHCR has supported the voluntary repatriation to Colombia of 248 persons of concern. ◼ Within the framework of the Humanitarian Response Plan and its leadership role in the Protection Cluster and the Shelter, Energy and NFI Cluster, UNHCR participates in the UN interagency response to the COVID-19 emergency in Venezuela. www.un hcr.org 2 FACT SHEET Venezuela August-October 2020 Activities implemented August-October 2020 Operational highlights ◼ UNHCR delivered 1,189 hygiene kits, 457 packs of sanitary pads, 62 buckets, 62 water filters and 1 water tank to benefit a total of 2,090 spontaneous Venezuelan returnees put in quarantine at PASI quarantine centres in Apure, in coordination with the regional Office of the Ombudsperson. ◼ UNHCR delivered 1,608 hygiene kits, 350 mosquito nets, 186 buckets and 90 solar lamps to benefit 4,627 Venezuelan returnees in quarantine at PASI in Zulia. ◼ UNHCR delivered 1,000 mosquito nets, 500 solar lamps, 500 jerry cans, 500 blankets, 250 plastic sheets and 1,000 bars of soap to support 880 returnees currently in quarantine at PASI in Santa Elena de Uairén, Bolívar. UNHCR also delivered 30 hygiene kits to the state-run Bolívar Social Foundation, to benefit older persons in quarantine at PASI in Caroní and Angostura, Bolívar. ◼ UNHCR delivered 300 jerry cans, 189 solar lamps, 750 water purification tablets, 6,480 condoms and biosecurity gear to support the response of local institutions and PASI in Amazonas. ◼ UNHCR delivered 50 RHUs, 500 hygiene kits (including mosquito nets), 500 jerry cans, 500 buckets, 300 sanitary napkins, 250 sleeping mats, 150 solar lamps, 20 handwashing stations and 10 water tanks to improve conditions at the Ciudad Deportiva PASI in Barinas, benefitting some 400 to 500 persons in quarantine each month. ◼ UNHCR donated and installed 17 RHUs in Táchira: 8 at PASI, 7 at health centres and 2 at fire departments active in the COVID-19 response. ◼ UNHCR donated and installed 22 RHUs to strengthen the response at the Campo Escuela PASI in Guasdualito, Apure. ◼ UNHCR set up 2 family tents at the checkpoint between Zulia and Falcón to support the medical triage of Venezuelans returning to Falcón, while evaluating the need for RHUs. ◼ UNHCR, together with partner HIAS, delivered 978 sleeping mats, 978 blankets, 500 mosquito nets, 500 kitchen sets, 326 plastic sheets, 200 solar lamps, 123 hygiene kits, 100 buckets and 2,500 water purification tablets to 650 families with specific needs affected by flooding in the community of Caño Amarillo, Bolívar. ◼ UNHCR delivered 1,222 habitat kits and 550 hygiene kits to benefit 2,478 persons with specific needs in prioritised communities in Bolívar. UNHCR also delivered 11 kits with biosecurity gear to benefit some 14,500 persons who depend on 11 health centres in Bolívar for health services. ◼ UNHCR delivered 177 hygiene kits (including jerry cans, water purification tablets and soap) to benefit 2,264 persons with specific needs in La Banera, Valencia, Carabobo. ◼ UNHCR, together with NGO Venezuelan Confederation of Deaf People (CONSORVEN), donated 106 habitat kits (including solar lamps, mosquito nets, buckets, kitchen sets, mats and blankets) to 106 persons with disabilities affected by recent flooding in Trapichito, Valencia, Carabobo. ◼ UNHCR delivered 31 handcrafted water filters and 31 buckets to persons with specific needs in Guafita and the indigenous community of Guamalito, Amazonas. ◼ UNHCR and partners Vivienda Popular and Fogones y Banderas delivered 140 habitat kits for 241 persons with specific needs in prioritised communities in Petare, Miranda (Greater Caracas). ◼ UNHCR delivered 280 blankets, 280 sleeping mats, 140 solar lamps, 140 mosquito nets, 70 buckets and 70 kitchen sets to benefit 1,173 persons with specific needs in the communities of El Ingenio in Guatire and El Cafetal in El Junquito, Miranda. ◼ UNHCR distributed 283 kits for persons with specific needs to 283 persons with specific needs (including