Situation in Venezuela - Press Conference

Thank you so much. Thank you. And thank you for your patience. As I mentioned, we're joined by Paula Narvaez of UNFPA. And I think you've just been to Venezuela. So we'll wait for you. We'll listen to you, and then we'll take some questions.

Good afternoon and thank you again. Today marks one month since the devastating earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, which claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people and have displaced over 23,000. But statistics alone cannot capture the human toll and true scale of this tragedy. I have just returned from Venezuela after spending the past week in La Guaira, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquakes. There, I met families who have lost everything, listened to their stories, and saw firsthand their determination to rebuild their lives. While there, I witnessed something that recurs in every emergency. women organizing safe spaces for their families and caring for others, and frontline responders working tirelessly despite also being personally impacted. One UNSPA staff member I met was leading the gender-based violence response despite having lost her own home in the earthquake. She said she wanted to do all she could to help. But amid this resilience, the scale of the disaster means that the needs remain very high. The earthquakes exposed and heightened pre-existing inequalities when it comes to access to health care and safety. We know that women do not stop giving birth during emergency, yet vulnerable women and adolescent girls are more likely to be cut off from the life-saving services they need. The health system is under immense strain. 41 health facilities have structural damage, with three completely inoperable. Many facilities also face shortages of medicines, equipment, and staff. Disruptions to electricity, water supply, and supply chains, together with the urgent need to provide trauma care to thousands of injured people, are stretching already limited resources. This includes the life-saving resources needed to provide sexual and reproductive health care, particularly emergency obstetric care. In Caracas, 30 miles away from La Guaira, UNFPA has provided long-term support to the Caricuao Maternal and Child Hospital. There, I met Camila, a 19-year-old awaiting a cesarean section. Her experience was a powerful reminder that pregnancy and childbirth continue, even as communities confront disaster and displacement. I also visited temporary shelters, where thousands of people are living in precarious conditions. One teenage girl I met, Pamela, was participating in an information session on gender-based violence. She listened attentively. as our team spoke about something simple yet profoundly transformative: learning to recognize violence and knowing that it's never her fault. UNFPA has been responding to this crisis since day one to scale up life-saving reproductive health services and strengthen gender-based violence prevention and response. These services are central to any humanitarian response. We have been supporting hospitals and communities in Venezuela for years with training, equipment, and medicine for prenatal care, safe births, including emergency obstetric care, clinical management of rape, gender-based violence prevention and response, and family planning supplies and information. These are sectors that are often overlooked in emergency response and chronically underfunded. This has to change. UNFPA and our implementing partners have already reached thousands of people. We are leading the gender-based violence response, distributing reproductive health kits, and providing 16 health facilities with medical equipment and supplies. We are working closely with OCHA, IOM, UNHCR, and UNICEF to make temporary shelters safer for women and girls and providing psychosocial support, case management, legal counseling, and information sessions. But there is much more to be done, and this work is far from over. UNFPA requires $10 million to expand its response and reach 121,000 people in need of reproductive health and protection services. Today, we have only received 40% of what we need. One month in and we are embarking on the planning of the recovery phase of the response. But we all know that rebuilding and true recovery will take years. We must continue to support the most vulnerable communities as they rebuild their lives and restore and strengthen health and protection services. Venezuelan communities have demonstrated enormous strength and resilience. Their courage must now be matched with sustained international solidarity and support. Thanks for listening.

I ask any questions on the floor. Amelie, please. Thank you.

On behalf of the UN Correspondent Association, thank you very much for doing this briefing. I'm Amelie Bouthotier from AFP News Agency. You mentioned gender violence. gender-based violence. I mean, we know that in any kind of crisis, whether it's natural disaster or otherwise, that there can be an increase. Is there any specific measure taken to try to limit that to a minimum? And have you already seen some increase of these kind of violences? Thank you.

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, there is always cases of violence, gender-based violence in this kind of context, as in the rest of the context, unfortunately. We do not have definitive figures on the numbers of GBV cases at this moment, but we are working closely with partners to gather this data. Reported cases only show the tip of the iceberg, as always, when it comes to the full scale of the problem. as most survivors do not report due to fear of retaliation, stigma, insufficient support services, and other barriers. That's why to build awareness on this matter is so critical. One thing is clear, gender-based violence increase in every crisis. This is why protection, including from sexual abuse and exploitation, must be a key part of any humanitarian response.

Thank you, Efrain.

Thanks, Daniela. Thank you so much. This is Efrain Kosaifi from Arab News Daily. A question about your offices and your locations there. Have they been impacted at all by the earthquake? If so, do you have any mobile clinic? And if so, is it easy for you Has it been easy to reach everyone you wanted to reach? Can you give us an estimate how many still are without reach? We've been watching people calling for help for a full month now, and some people are saying in Venezuela that they haven't seen any aid on the way. So I was wondering what you have to tell us about that. Thank you.

Thank you so much. As I mentioned, so according to the latest figures from the authorities, more than 23,000 people are currently staying in temporary shelters. We have been able to provide services in four of these shelters so far, establishing in situ attention. But we are also having mobile attention in other shelters. But we, and I personally, met, visited Maria Vargas Sport Complex, Cesar Nieves Stadium, Playa Grande and Marabaco, all of them in La Guaira. We also know that nearly 18,000 people have lost their homes. So given the scale of the destruction and the extensive reconstruction required, many displaced people are expected to remain in temporary accommodation for an extended period. So that's why improving life conditions and safety for the people staying in shelter is a key priority and UNFPA is working closely with other UN agencies in order to provide that safety as well. We have services that we are delivering in those shelters, but also in other shelters, I have to say, in a coordinated manner, also with the Ministry of Health authorities in the country.

One more follow-up, please. Have there been any help coming forward from the countries around, any gynecologists, doctors who have volunteered, come forward to assist in this situation? And if so, what is the significance of this matter? How much help are they really bringing?

I mean, I have to say and recognize that there's plenty of international cooperation operating in the field. And I have to mention medical doctors, gynecologists that are providing services. We are working very closely, we were working very closely with Dominican Republic doctors, UNFPA, with them together in a clinic in one of these shelters providing sexual and reproductive health for and girls and also UK is providing and other countries as well. So yes, I mean the international cooperation is in the field but we need to continue to provide this support because this part of the emergency will last longer.

Thank you. Any further questions? If not, I just want to say thank you very much for our Noon Briefing guest today, Paula Narvaez, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for UNFPA. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you.

Thank you. Have a good day.

Thank you so much. Thank you.