Venezuela’s earthquake disaster: needs ‘skyrocketing’, aid agencies say

The miraculous rescue of a three-year-old child in the worst-hit northern region comes as tens of thousands of people still lack adequate shelter, after earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale struck in less than a minute, on June 24.

“As the death toll rises, demand skyrockets,” the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said in an online alert on Tuesday. According to authorities, nearly 2,000 deaths have been confirmed and more than 6,400 people have been rescued so far.

The UN response to the earthquake included:

• UNICEF: sending enough supplies for 100,000 people for three months
• UNHCR: provides shelter, warning that many basic needs are increasing.
• OCHA: coordinates dozens of international rescue teams still working.
• UNDAC: assessing urgent needs in the most affected communities.

UN agencies and partners remain in the worst-affected areas, working with local authorities and aid partners to help families access shelter, health services, protection and other essential services.

“Every life matters,” United Nations aid coordination office, Ochainsisted on Wednesday, as national and international search and rescue teams remained on the ground in La Guaira.

Also helping to assess needs, the UN Disaster Assessment Coordination (UNDAC) team is continuing its work to find out “where and for whom humanitarian assistance is needed”, said UNDAC public information officer Veronique Durroux.

In total, about 1,000 buildings, including hospitals, were damaged or completely destroyed, along with more than 400 schools and water systems.

In response to the emergency, an initial delivery of 47 tonnes of humanitarian supplies from the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEFarrived in Venezuela on Tuesday.

The supplies are in addition to a regional shipment from Panama that arrived on June 28. Combined, they will support more than 100,000 children and families over three months.

Urgent funding call

“UNICEF are on the ground and working around the clock to reach as many children and families as possible,” he said UNICEFGabriel Vockel, speaking at La Guaira. “TThe first flights carrying water, medicine and many other supplies have arrived in the country and we thank them for their solidarity. And we ask for donations to UNICEF because with more funding, we can save more livesreach more children, and reach as many families as possible.”

The shipment – ​​facilitated by the European Union through UNICEF’s logistics center in Copenhagen – includes emergency health equipment for urgent medical care, supplies for safe births, newborn care, disease prevention and treatment.

Water purification and storage supplies have also been delivered, along with tents for child-friendly spaces and wheelchairs. Other recreation and early childhood development equipment that has been delivered is designed to help children regain a sense of normalcy and continue learning.

“Families in affected countries urgently need clean water, as well as access to health services,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Roberto Benes. “Many slept outside for fear of another aftershock. These supplies will help us reach children and families with what they need most right now…But the needs in the field are much greater than the needs in the field.”

Children were affected in six states

The agency estimates about 680,000 children need humanitarian assistance in the six states affected by the earthquake – the most significant seismic event to hit Venezuela in more than a century.

“The community remains at risk from continued aftershocks, of which there have been more than 600 since the first earthquake occurred,” UNICEF said.

UNICEF estimates it will need $52 million to respond to the earthquake emergency, as part of its broader 2026 Humanitarian Action for Children appeal for Venezuela, which stands at $137.6 million and, before the earthquake, was only 35 percent funded.