| Project Detail |
The NRC intervention seeks to provide assistance in the sectors of Protection, Education, Food Security and Livelihoods, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, to 6,483 direct beneficiaries, including children, adolescents, and their families in communities and schools of the Orinoco Mining Arc; a hotspot area for illegal mining and high levels of violence in Bolivar state, near the border between Venezuela and Brazil, a priority area for the SDC Guidance Note for Venezuela 2022-2024.
Roscio and El Callao municipalities in Bolívar State are part of the Orinoco Mining Arc, due to their important gold deposits. This has made them destinations for internally displaced Venezuelans that look for economic opportunities. These municipalities present problems in terms of Protection since it is controlled by non-State armed groups that expose children, adolescents, and young people, to risks such as family abandonment, human trafficking and child labor. Women and other vulnerable groups have adopted negative coping mechanisms, such as transactional sex, school dropout to work in the informal sector or getting recruited into armed groups, teenage pregnancy, and child marriage. In terms of legal protection, communities face numerous barriers to obtain birth certificates and identity documents. The main ones are: 1) Difficulties to move freely within the country; 2) Impossibility to access State benefits and services; 3) Lack of access to formal employment; and 4) Limited access to Education. In schools, the absence of teachers and dropout rates is significant. Low salaries have pushed teachers and students towards the informal economy or to work in mines. Families of children and adolescents must prioritize meeting their basic needs, and education is not at the top of priorities. Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is another challenge since access to drinking water and the solid waste management are limited. Due to mining, the Orinoco Mining Arc has also become a disease hotspot, and at the same time, a source of water contamination. In terms of Food Security and Livelihoods, the National Survey of Living Conditions 2022 in Venezuela reported that 81% of the population of Roscio and El Callao live below the extreme poverty line and 73% of households are food insecure.
Objectives Mitigate the protection risks and respond to the immediate needs in Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Food Security and Livelihoods of the communities affected by the socioeconomic crisis in the Orinoco Mining Arc of Venezuela. |
