| Project Detail |
This proposal seeks to support IFRC in strengthening the institutional capacities of the Venezuelan Red Cross and its 41 branches after the restructuring process, continuing with an emphasis on organisational, programmatic and financial aspects. This will be achieved through electoral processes in each branch, a new Red Cross law, strategic planning and policy development, training, fundraising strategies for sustainability, and protection and climate change programmes over a three-year period in a national level. The Venezuelan Red Cross (VRC), as a National Society assisting public authorities in the humanitarian field, is undergoing a key moment of its institutional transformation. Since August 2023, it has been engaged in a restructuring process focused primarily on protecting and safeguarding volunteers, re-establishing its internal legitimacy within a new institutional framework, improving its management mechanisms and restoring its capacity to act neutrally and impartially throughout the country. However, despite the progress made over the last two years, structural, technical and financial gaps remain, and the sustainability requires continued and strategic investment. The VRC does not yet have a national strategic plan or an institutional baseline that would enable it to guide its action with evidence-based criteria. The human and technical resources available remain limited. Although key reforms have been initiated, regulations, internal control policies and operational mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels still need to be consolidated. Volunteering, an operational pillar of the organisation, requires a formal strategy to guide its development, retain volunteers and align it with the new institutional framework. Only the headquarters and the Caracas branch have begun standardisation of financial processes, with a national strategy for unification and financial strengthening in the other 41 branches still pending. Risk and disaster management is also a priority for the VRC. Although it has a emergency response team, the structure is being reformulated to incorporate a more comprehensive vision that also includes prevention, community preparedness and recovery. In this context, the present project becomes fundamental for consolidating institutional strengthening, closing critical gaps and ensuring that the VRC can fulfil its humanitarian mandate in a sustainable, cohesive and effective manner. Objectives Support the process of strengthening the Venezuelan Red Cross in collaboration with partners and allies to ensure the continuity of its operations and the fulfilment of its humanitarian mandate at the national level. |
