USAID is supporting the Government of Brazil's emergency response in Roraima State, where the flow of people fleeing Venezuela has tripled in 2018.

AFP PHOTO / Mauro PIMENTEL

Key Developments

USAID is responding to a complex emergency stemming from an influx of people fleeing an economic and political crisis in Venezuela to regional countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Brazil continues to experience the largest COVID-19 outbreak in the LAC region. While Venezuelans in Brazil are able to access public health services, both Venezuelans and vulnerable host populations have increasingly struggled to access income-generating opportunities and other basic needs during the COVID-19 crisis, UNHCR reports. With nearly $39 million in FY 2020 funding, the U.S. Government supports partners to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance and conduct livelihood, shelter, and WASH interventions among vulnerable populations in Brazil. 

Background

Since 2014, deteriorating economic and political conditions in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela—marked by devastating hyperinflation, shortages of basic medicines, and limited food availability—have contributed to increasing humanitarian needs.  The 2020 UN Humanitarian Response Plan identified food security, health, nutrition, and protection as urgent needs inside Venezuela.  Severe food and medicine shortages have contributed to extensive outmigration and an influx of Venezuelans into other countries in the region, primarily to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as smaller populations to Argentina, Mexico, Panama, and several Caribbean and Central American countries. The UN estimates that more than 5.4 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2014.

The population influx is straining the capacity of public services in some host communities, particularly in border areas of Brazil and Colombia.  Recent assessments indicate food, health care services, nutrition assistance, protection, and WASH support are among the most urgent humanitarian needs of Venezuelans and host communities in border regions, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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