Venezuela develop abilities to Situation Report recreational recreational kits distributed by UNICEF at the ©UNICEF Venezuela/2019. Children play with Hipólito Cisneros school in Capital). Through El play, children Junquito (Distrito cope with violence and stressful situations. SITUATION IN NUMBERS May 2019 Highlights • As irregularity in power and water provision persisted in some regions across Venezuela, fuel shortages further aggravated the situation in May affecting the functionality of services Inside Venezuela: * and daily activities of thousands of Venezuelans, including health and nutrition services, as well as distribution of food, medicines, and transportation of health workers to their duty 3.2 million stations. # of children in need of assistance (Internal UN • The Coordination for Cooperation and Assistance Team (ECCA) continues leading the estimate) development of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), in consultation with sectoral government authorities as well as the national and local partners. Consultations have taken 7 million place with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water, the state water # of people in need of assistance (Internal UN corporation, the National Nutrition Institute and the Ombudsman, among others. estimate) • Through activities supported by UNICEF, over 62,000 children received micronutrient * the ECCA is working through the sectors to finalize the supplementation and 3,500 children under 5 received outpatient treatment for estimates in preparation for the HRP. uncomplicated acute malnutrition. • With the onset of the rainy season, UNICEF continued promoting hygiene practices and Outside Venezuela: delivered water purifying tablets to vulnerable population, benefiting 12,699 people with access to safe water for an approximate period of 2 months. 4 million • Nearly 9,600 children benefited from recreational kits distributed by UNICEF in ten schools # of refugees and migrants from Venezuela over the month of May. • In collaboration with partners, UNICEF continues monitoring cases of adolescents detained worldwide (Regional Inter-Agency Coordination during demonstrations. In May, UNICEF received reports of three adolescents detained in Platform, June. 2019) the states of Carabobo, Barinas and Anzoátegui and provided legal support to the identified cases. All three adolescents were subsequently released. • UNICEF Financial Ceiling Over 5,300 people, including 1,920 children, were reached by integral activities in Táchira which is one of the most vulnerable locations in the country. Children and families received 2018-2019 services such as medical consultation and immunization, along with key information on child protection, migration and safe hygiene practices, among other life-saving messages. US$ 32 million • UNICEF and UNFPA signed a key collaboration agreement to strengthen cooperation in response to the needs of children, adolescents, mothers and pregnant women in Venezuela, including information sharing and technical resources in essential areas such as health, nutrition, child protection, water, hygiene and Gender-based violence. UNICEF's Response with Partners Funding gap US$ 9.4M Total Results Sectors UNICEF Target1 2019 2018-2019 Funded 2018 Health: # of pregnant women and new-born funding 99,376 7,122 US$ 17.9M children receiving maternal and neonatal services requirement: Nutrition: # of children, pregnant and US$ 32 M breastfeeding women receiving micronutrient 251,483 76,383 supplementation Funded 2019 WASH: # of people provided with access to safe US$ 8.3M 341,000 153,612 drinking water Education: # of girls and boys reached with 131,000 59,948 educational and recreational materials Child Protection: # of children provided with 70,723 9,036 *Funds available include funding received in 2019 as well psychosocial support including access CFSs as funds available in 2018. Funding requirements are currently under revision with the ongoing HRP development. 1 Targets are currently under revision with the ongoing HRP development. Funding gap US$ 8.8M 2018-2019 funding requirement: Funded 2018 US$ 32 M Funded 2019 US$ 20.4M US$ 5M Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs After the blackouts that spread across Venezuela in March, irregularity in power and water provision is still persistent in several states. Further aggravating the situation are fuel shortages which impacted access to services and daily activities of thousands of Venezuelans, with reports of long of queues to refuel in different cities, as oil reserves are significantly low, due to a reduction of fuel imports and insufficient volumes from local production.2 In Táchira and Zulia states, near the west border of Colombia, long queues of approximately three days have been reported to get fuel..3 Fuel shortages impacted provision of health and nutrition services, as well as distribution of food and medicine, and transportation of professional staff to health centres, thus limiting medical attention, particularly in Táchira state. In addition, universities cancelled classes for a week in Táchira and some UNICEF implementing partners suspended activities in different areas, due to difficulties in transportation. In Zulia, besides fuel shortages, scarce electricity supply has significantly impacted the state’s economy, where 40-45% of businesses are on the verge of shutting down, as reported by the local Chamber of Commerce.4 Moreover, cooking gas shortages affected several states such as Miranda, Nueva Esparta, Lara, Carabobo, Zulia, Bolivar, Táchira and Monagas, among others, putting additional pressure on the most vulnerable families.5 In May, six children waiting for organ transplant died in the JM de los Rios hospital (Caracas), one of the main paediatric hospitals in Venezuela which resulted to protests erupting among health workers, students and relatives of the deceased children, due to the lack of medicines and other service-related issues (including lack of water provision and irregular electricity supply). This situation has impacted the operation of the health facility over the past three years.6 At the end of May, the Venezuelan Central Bank published information on inflation rates, with data showing a cumulative inflation of 1,046.97 per cent for the year 2019, while the annual inflation (since April 2018) is 282,972.81 per cent. According to the National Price Index reported, food and non-alcoholic sector has had an inflation of 1,029.32 per cent since December 2018, while the annual inflation for that area is 276,775.98 per cent.7 Hyperinflation has exacerbated the loss of purchasing power and thus impacted access to basic goods, including food and medicines. Moreover, fuel shortages have contributed to general price increase of fuel and other goods, as well as an increase of fuel smuggling in border areas. In late May, a step was taken towards an agreed solution regarding the Venezuela situation, as the government of Norway hosted meetings between the main political actors in Venezuela. According to the announcement by the Norwegian government, topics addressed included political, economic and electoral matters. The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs recognized parties’ efforts in their willingness to move forward in the search of an agreed-upon and constitutional solution for the country.8 Estimated Population in Need of Assistance (Internal UN estimate: the UN Country Team is working through the sectors to finalize the estimates in preparation for the Humanitarian Response Plan -HRP) Start of response: October 2018 Total Male Female Total Population in Need 7,000,000 3,507,000 3,493,000 Children (Under 19) 3,200,000 1,603,200 1,596,800 Children Under Five 825,629 413,640 411,989 Children Under One 213,020 109,918 103,101 Pregnant women 141,337 - 141,337 2 Oil Price.com, ‘Venezuela hit by gasoline shortages’, 17 May 2019, <https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Venezuela-Hit-By-Gasoline-Shortages.html#>, accessed 7 June 2019. 3 CNN, ‘Why the country with the world’s largest oil reserves faces gas shortages', 26 May 2019, <https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/26/americas/gas-shortages-venezuela- intl/index.html>, accessed 7 June 2019. 4 El Universal, ‘Paralizado sector comercial del Zulia por crisis eléctrica’,4 May 2019, <http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/39148/paralizado-sector-comercial-del-zulia- por-crisis-electrica>, accessed 7 June 2019. 5 CNVE24, '¡PROTESTA! Manifestantes cerraron la Intercomunal Guarenas-Guatire por falta de gas', 24 May 2019, <https://cnve24.com/?p=43911>, accessed 7 June 2019. El Estímulo, 'Se registran protestas en Valencia por falta de gas doméstico', 29 May 2019, <http://elestimulo.com/blog/se-registran-protestas-en-valencia-por-falta-de-gas- domestico/>, accessed 7 June 2019. Frontera 7 días, 'Sancristobalenses cierran vías por protestas por gas', 23 May 2019, <https://www.frontera7dias.com.ve/2019/05/23/cierran-vias-protestas-gas/>, accessed 7 June 2019. El Informador, 'Barquisimeto Vecinos de la Urb. El Obelisco protestan por gas y colapso de cloacas', 29 May 2019, <https://www.elinformador.com.ve/2019/05/29/barquisimeto-vecinos-de-la-urb-el-obelisco-protestan-por-gas-y-colapso-de- cloacas/>, accessed 7 June 2019. 6 Mundo 24 Net, 'Nueva protesta en el Hospital JM de los Ríos tras la muerte de un sexto niño’, 29 May 2019, <http://mundo24.net/2019/05/nueva-protesta-en-el-hospital- jm-de-los-rios-tras-la-muerte-de-un-sexto-nino/>, accessed 11 June 2019. 7 Banco Central de Venezuela, <http://www.bcv.org.ve/estadisticas/consumidor>, accessed