Venezuela crisis: UN aid effort continues amid political upheaval

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Venezuela’s political shock has sharpened global attention on a country already facing one of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises. For the United Nations, the priority remains unchanged: protecting lives, sustaining basic services and supporting Venezuelans at home and across the region.

The backdrop

• Venezuela has endured years of economic collapse, political instability, hyperinflation and economic sanctions from Washington, compounded by floods, landslides and other climate shocks.
• The recent seizure of President Nicolás Maduro by US special forces has added a new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile situation.
• According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, 7.9 million people — more than a quarter of the population — need urgent humanitarian assistance.

© UNHCR/Jaime Giménez

UNHCR Provides Legal and Health Assistance to Venezuelan Refugees in Tacna, Peru.

A large UN footprint

• The UN maintains a broad operational presence in Venezuela, with most agencies active on the ground.
• Work spans food security, healthcare, gender equality, education, decent work, water and sanitation, and peacebuilding.
• Agencies including the World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO) and the reproductive rights agency, UNFPA, deliver life-saving aid and help keep essential services running — from food distributions and nutrition screenings to maternal care and clean water projects.
• Following the latest political developments, UN leadership in the country said it is closely assessing needs to ensure support can be scaled up if required.

Human rights under scrutiny

• Venezuela’s human rights situation remains a core UN concern.
• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) continues to monitor violations.
• Briefing the Human Rights Council last month, High Commissioner Volker Türk warned of deepening repression, citing increased militarisation, threats to journalists and human rights defenders, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
• UN investigators have stressed that accountability for long-documented abuses — including extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual and gender-based violence — must not be overshadowed by the current crisis.

© IOM/Gema Cortés

Migrants arriving at the Lajas Blancas reception centre in Darien, Panama.

A long-running exodus

• It is too early to know whether recent events will intensify the mass displacement that has unfolded over the past decade.
• Millions of Venezuelans have already fled repression, instability and economic hardship.
• Nearly half of those who have left rely on informal, low-paid work; 42 per cent struggle to afford enough food, and 23 per cent live in overcrowded housing.

Regional response

• The UN refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) coordinate a regional response across 17 countries.
• This effort has helped more than 4.5 million Venezuelans in Latin America and the Caribbean obtain regular status, giving access to documentation, protection and basic services.
• The latest regional plan seeks $1.4 billion to reach 2.3 million vulnerable people, focusing on jobs, education, healthcare and protection.

© IOM/Gema Cortés

Warao families make their way to the local church in Icacos, Trinidad and Tobago for cash distribution.

The funding gap

• Despite reiterated UN commitment to Venezuelans’ dignity and protection, resources are stretched.
• In 2025, just 17 per cent of the over $600 million required for Venezuela’s Humanitarian Response Plan had been received.
• UN officials warn that without increased funding, aid agencies will be forced to scale back support at a moment of heightened need.

Bottom line:

Political turmoil may dominate headlines, but for the UN the mission is constant: keep humanitarian lifelines open, defend human rights and support Venezuelans — inside the country and beyond its borders — through an unfolding crisis with global consequences