The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, announced nearly $376 million in additional humanitarian assistance for people affected by the Venezuela regional crisis. The humanitarian toll from this political and economic crisis in Venezuela remains dire. More than 7.7 million people in Venezuela need immediate humanitarian assistance and more than 6.8 million Venezuelans have fled their home country in search of better opportunities and livelihoods, resulting in one of the largest migrant and refugee crises in the world.
USAID Assistant to the Administrator Sarah Charles and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Janine Wynne made the announcement on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. Consistent with U.S. commitments under the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, the additional humanitarian funding, which includes more than $194 million through USAID and more than $181 million through the U.S. Department of State, will provide essential support for vulnerable Venezuelans inside Venezuela, as well as urgently needed assistance for migrants, refugees, and the generous host communities across the region.
USAID funding inside Venezuela will provide critically needed food and nutrition assistance and help rehabilitate water and sanitation infrastructure in vulnerable communities and at health facilities. It will also provide essential medical and hygiene supplies to keep people healthy alongside support to ensure the continuity of healthcare services and provide specialized protection support to help safeguard Venezuelans from violence and exploitation. Across Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, USAID funding will provide hot meals, food vouchers, and direct cash assistance to Venezuelan migrants and refugees so they can purchase food and other urgent necessities from local markets.
The United States remains the largest single donor for the response to the Venezuela regional crisis. Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided nearly $2.7 billion in total humanitarian, development, economic, and health assistance for the Venezuela regional crisis, including over $2.3 billion in humanitarian assistance and approximately $356 million in development assistance for those in need inside Venezuela and across the region.
Humanitarian aid is critical to ease people’s suffering, but it cannot address the underlying conditions that caused Venezuela’s protracted crisis. The United States supports Venezuelan-led negotiations as the best path toward a peaceful restoration of democracy and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans. Only a peaceful, political solution can address the corruption, political repression, failed policies, and gross economic mismanagement at the root of this crisis.