Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Two earthquakes struck north-central Venezuela on Wednesday 24 June, claiming at least 1,500 lives. 

Thousands of survivors are sleeping in evacuation shelters, livelihoods have been decimated, and infrastructure is severely damaged.  

The World Food Programme (WFP) is carrying out emergency food distributions for the most vulnerable people impacted by the quakes.  

WFP has also installed the first of three temporary feeding centres in La Guaira and pre-positioned 30 metric tons of food and 10 metric tons of non-food items – including kitchen utensils – so that full operations can begin without delay.  

WFP aims to reach up to 500,000 people in shelters in the first three months and has the capacity to scale up to 1 million, if sufficient funding is secured. Operations will expand into other hard-hit areas this week. 

WFP is urgently appealing for US$50 million to deliver this life-saving food assistance. 

Even before this earthquake, food assistance needs in Venezuela were significant. Many families are unable to afford basic groceries despite food being available in markets. 

Economic access to good quality and nutritious food is a challenge for many families as food-price increases erode purchasing power. 

The frequency and intensity of other disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides further pose a major challenge to agriculture, food production and livelihoods. 

WFP is focused on life-saving food assistance to vulnerable populations. We also help families build resilience, recover from shocks and strengthen their livelihoods to help build longer term food security. 

Learn how you can donate to WFP’s earthquake response.