Press Release

EU humanitarian aid contributes €6.1 million to support UNICEF’s humanitarian response for refugee and migrant children in Latin America and the Caribbean

04 July 2022

The EU humanitarian aid will contribute to a sustainable humanitarian response for highly affected communities, refugees and migrant children in Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad & Tobago.

PANAMA, 04 July 2022 – After years of protracted political and socio-economic crisis in Venezuela, the entire Latin America and Caribbean region continues to experience the largest migration outflow in its contemporary history. The 2022 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) estimates that 8.4 million people are in need of assistance, including 2.8 million children.

As numbers of migrant children keep rising, the European Union, through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO), has contributed €6.1 million to support UNICEF to bring relief to the most vulnerable migrant and refugee children and host families in 7 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), namely Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad & Tobago.

The EU has committed the humanitarian funding for a critical and comprehensive response for refugee and migrant children. The contribution will enable UNICEF to boost actions to ensure the rights of children and their families affected by the crisis are met. More than 127. 000 vulnerable people including migrants, refugees, and those from host communities in these 7 countries will benefit from education, health and nutrition interventions, child friendly spaces to guarantee child protection, water, sanitation, hygiene and disaster preparedness and response, among others.

Children and families have been severely hit by the humanitarian and socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including extended school closures, disruption of essential services, and rising violence against children and women exacerbating the situation and the risks already faced by millions of refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The number of people in need – migrants, refugees and in host communities – has spiked to over 41 million in 2022, including 13.4 million children according to UNICEF latest estimates, and is expected to continue rising. Funding gaps, however, threaten to leave thousands of children without access to basic needs.

Migrants and refugees often live in marginalized urban and rural areas where access to clean water, sanitation and essential services are already limited. Refugee and migrant children may also be prevented from accessing essential services due to legal, linguistic or safety barriers.

The United Nations Children’s Fund aims to keep vulnerable children across the region protected, with access to safe drinking water, nutrition, health services and education.