The undersigned organizations consider it necessary to make the following statement to express our concern about the serious weaknesses of the Humanitarian Response Plan for Venezuela published last Wednesday, August 14 by the United Nations and prepared by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Caracas, under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator (CH) in the Humanitarian Country Team (EHP). According to its formulation, this plan is made within a 6-month execution period, from July to December 2019, with financial requirements of $223 million to meet a goal of attending 2.6 million people with humanitarian needs in 10 priority states of the country, through 98 projects submitted by 61 partners.
First, the plan is proposed as a continuation of the United Nations response initiated in October 2018 when it reacted belatedly to a humanitarian emergency that had already been alerted by civil society organizations and senior UN spokespersons since 2015. During this phase, emergency funds were mostly allocated for the relief of the needs of 3.4 million refugees and migrants who fled the country massively between 2017 and 2018 (11% of the population), which by 2019 reaches the figure of 4 million people. Several agencies in Venezuela also expanded their cooperation agreements from that date on to an escalation plan with severe operating restrictions due to the government’s refusal to recognize the emergency and give access to official data. From 2018, the plan highlights as achievements certain actions of which no evidence is offered to assess to what extent they can be considered as achievements, nor to what extent they could contribute to reducing the impacts of the emergency.
Second, the plan is based on a baseline of at least 7 million people with humanitarian needs in the country (25% of the population), an estimate made in March 2019. However, this figure presents considerable underestimations due to the lack of national data and given that secondary sources and on-the-ground information demonstrates a profound affectation upon the population at the structural level that left millions of people deprived of essential goods and services in all sectors (health, food, water, education, services basic, among others), not to mention that the emergency has continued to sharpen humanitarian needs and for August 2019, there are a greater number of people affected than those estimated in March 2019. Although this baseline is transcendental for the development of a plan, to date the evaluation document from which it is extracted has not been made public in Venezuela, leaving the population, again, without access to information on which the protection of their rights and the fulfillment of the objectives of the essential humanitarian principles and norms depend.
Third, its text admits that the plan has a limited coverage of only 37% of the 7 million people with humanitarian needs. Regarding these limitations, we must add that: a] there is no explanation in regards to the time frame or method the 4.4 million people whose assistance is postponed will be covered for new plans as of 2020, which require an urgent and effective response, given that having humanitarian needs means they are deprived of one or more basic needs that endanger life, integrity and human security; b] the plan was drawn up within a short timeframe for a period of just 6 months and was published a month and a half after starting this period, which limits its real possibilities of execution; and c] it requires $223 million for its implementation, which, in addition to being an extremely insufficient amount to meet the humanitarian needs of 2.6 million people, are resources that must still be obtained among potential donors during the short period of execution, compromising the viability of the plan.
Fourth, the plan contemplates that 73% of the required financing will be allocated to projects of United Nations agencies in Venezuela and 27% to national and international civil society organizations. Of this funding, it is unknown how much is available and what will be the procedure to raise what is missing, maintaining the uncertainty of civil society, which does the hard job of participating in a coordinated humanitarian response through project formulation.
In view of these weaknesses, we demand that the United Nations authorities:
- Report on the results of the humanitarian response implemented since October 2018, beyond information on donations, in order to examine how much that response has contributed to covering the existing humanitarian needs, by states of the country, resources obtained and respective agencies.
- Publish the “Panorama of Humanitarian Needs of Venezuela,” prepared in March 2019, so that the population knows the dimension and the necessary scope of the response from the evaluations carried out in populations and territories by sectors, as well as making subsequent analysis of needs public so that adjustments to the Humanitarian Response Plan for the year 2020 can be made.
- Reconsider the planning procedures so that all people with humanitarian needs and vulnerable groups are included, as well as preparing for the actual financing required within a time period that allows for the assessment of gaps and the progress of the response.
- Include in all plans an analysis of concerns about human rights violations in all sectors affected by the emergency and contextualize restrictions that prevent compliance with protection mandates and traditional humanitarian principles.
- Communicate to civil society organizations in a clear and transparent manner, in the respective of coordination teams, the conditions to obtain the funds required for the projects of which a large number of people at risk await response.
See Humanitarian Response Plan at: https://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarianrepublic/plan-de-respuesta-humanitaria-venezuela-julio-2019-diciembre
Signed by:
1. A.C. Médicos Unidos de Venezuela
2. Acceso a la Justicia
3. Acción Campesina
4. Acción Ciudadana Contra el SIDA – ACCSI
5. Acción Solidaria
6. ACOANA
7. Aconvida
8. Amigos Trasplantados de Venezuela
9. Asociación Civil Mujeres en Línea
10. Asociación Civil Movimiento Vinotinto
11. Asociación Venezolana para la Hemofilia
12. Aula Abierta
13. AVESA. Asociación Venezolana para una Educación Sexual Alternativa
14. Caleidoscopio Humano
15. CDH-UCAB
16. CECODAP
17. Cendif-Unimet
18. Centro de Acción y Defensa Por los Derechos Humanos – CADEF
19. Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Metropolitana
20. Centro de Formación Para la Democracia – CFD
21. Centro de Justicia y Paz – Cepaz
22. Ciclovías Maracaibo
23. Ciudadanía con Compromiso A.C
24. Civilis Derechos Humanos
25. Clima21 – Ambiente y Derechos Humanos
26. Codevida
27. Comisión para los Derechos Humanos del Estado Zulia – Codhez
28. Comisión para los Derechos Humanos y la Ciudadanía – Codehciu
29. Comisión Nacional de DDHH de la Federación del Colegio de Abogados de
Venezuela del
estado Lara
30. Comisión Nacional de DDHH de la Federación de colegios de abogados de
Venezuela del
estado Táchira
31. Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas
y Políticas
de la Universidad del Zulia
32. Comisión de DDHH de la Federación de Colegios de Abogados de Venezuela del
estado
Mérida
33. Comisión de DDHH de la Federación de colegios de abogados de Venezuela del
estado
Monagas
34. Comité de derechos humanos de la guajira
35. Comité Popular de DDHH de Coche
36. Comunidad en Movimiento A.C
37. Conciencia Ciudadana A.C
38. Control Ciudadano para la Seguridad, la Defensa y la Fuerza Armada Nacional
39. Convite A.C.
40. Defensa en Acción
41. Defiende Venezuela
42. EDEPA A.C.
43. Epikeia Observatorio Universitario de Derechos Humanos
44. Equipo Voluntario de Ayuda Humanitaria EVAH
45. Espacio Humanitario
46. Espacio Público
47. EXCUBITUS Derechos Humanos en Educación
48. Federación Colegios de Bioanalistas de Venezuela
49. Federación Nacional de Sociedades de Padres y Representantes
-Fenasopadres50. Funcamama
51. FUNDACION AGROINLACA
52. fundacion Aguaclara
53. Fundación Ayudate
54. Fundación Incide
55. Fundación La Tortuga
56. Fundación Mavid
57. Fundación Papagayo
58. Fundación Pro Bono Venezuela, ProVene
59. Fundación prodefensa del derecho a la educación y la niñez
60. Fundación Rehabilitarte
61. Fundación Red Venezolana de Hombres Positivos RVH+
62. Gente & Ciudad Corp
63. Gobiernatec
64. Grupo de trabajo sobre Asuntos Indígenas – GTAI
65. Instituto Mead de Venezuela A.C
66. Instituto Venezolano de Estudios Políticos y Sociales-INVESP
67. Justicia y Paz OP VENEZUELA
68. Labo Ciudadano
69. Laboratorio de Paz
70. Madres y Padres por los Niños en Venezuela – Mapani Venezuela
71. Monitor Social A.C. (Nueva Esparta)
72. Movimiento Ciudadano Dale Letra
73. Movimiento SOMOS
74. Mulier
75. MUV Capítulo LARA
76. Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Los Andes
77. Observatorio Global de Comunicación y Democracia – OGCD
78. Observatorio Venezolano de la Salud
79. ONG DEMOCRACIA EMPRENDEDORA
80. Organización StopVIH
81. Padres Organizados de Venezuela
82. Prepara Familia
83. Promoción Educación y Defensa en DDHH – PROMEDEHUM
84. Provea
85. Proyecta Ciudadanía A.C
86. PSICODEHU
87. Red de Activistas Ciudadanos – REDAC Venezuela
88. Red de Activistas Ciudadanos – REDAC Internacional
89. Red por los Derechos Humanos de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes – REDHNNA
90. RVG+ Red Venezolana de Gente Positiva
91. Red Naranja
92. RedOrgBaruta
93. Revista SIC del Centro Gumilla
94. Sinergia, Red Venezolana de Organizaciones de Sociedad Civil
95. SOS PACIENTES RENALES
96. Superatec AC
97. Transparencia Venezuela
98. Un Mundo Sin Mordaza
99. Una Ventana a la Libertad
100. Unión Afirmativa de Venezuela
101. Unión Vecinal para la Participación Ciudadana A.C
102. Venezolanos en Acción
103. 100% Estrógeno
