UN relief coordinator urges increased support for Venezuela earthquake recovery

Remarks at the ministerial-level briefing of Member States on the humanitarian response to the earthquakes in Venezuela by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher

Caracas, July 8, 2026

I would like to thank all of you, everyone who has joined us from around the world – we have almost 200 online partners from across Member States, supporting this work from across the UN and the humanitarian family. It is a testament to the global outpouring of solidarity and support for the people of Venezuela at this time.

But video conferences and formal meetings are not enough. We must now turn this solidarity into real practical support, and I would like to briefly outline how we can strive to achieve this.

So, thank you for joining us, thank you, Secretary of State [H.E. Mr. Yván Gil Pinto]For your powerful words and for the exceptional work done over the past two weeks. We thank you for the practical cooperation our teams received from the first moment of this response.

I also want to pay tribute to Gianluca Rampolla [UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Venezuela] And to the humanitarian family here in Venezuela for their leadership and tireless work, often through the night, over and over again, to save as many lives as possible.

I would like to do three things briefly this morning: first, to share with you my impressions of the visit so far, second, to update you on our coordination efforts and plan, and third, to leave you with our requests for the next phase.

First, to give you a sense of how people are responding here two weeks later: I think it’s fair to say – and I was in La Guaira yesterday evening, one of the epicenters of this double earthquake – that people are in shock and despair.

There is a moment in these sites, and these are very noisy sites, as you can imagine, you have the noise of the diggers, the heavy machinery, the different teams trying to dig people out of the rubble, and I was standing with groups of mothers who go to the site there every day hoping to find any evidence of their children. There are moments on set when a member of the recovery team raises his hand, and everything goes silent. The machines go silent, because they heard, or wished they heard, the slightest noise from under the rubble, and everyone stops, hoping this is a sign of life. And standing with those mothers and fathers in that moment hoping against all hope that, two weeks later, this would be their child in a 14-story building whose height had been reduced to a few feet — you could see the different levels of the buildings being inches apart.

And then, as happened yesterday, after two minutes of silence, the emergency worker raises his arms to indicate that they did not hear a sound, and the digging and searching continues.

Those mothers asked me last night: Will help come? Today’s meeting is our response to that, and there can only be one answer to that question.

I very much welcomed the meeting I had last night with the Secretary of State and the Acting President [Delcy] Rodriguez with the Speaker of Parliament [Jorge] Rodriguez and senior members of the government are here and of course Gianluca and the team as well. I was able to thank them for the practical cooperation so far and work together on how to plan the next phase of the response.

It’s really important to note that the main responders to this crisis are the local communities, those who went out from the start looking for their neighbors and loved ones, but also the work that the government has done to lead and coordinate the response.

From the first moment – and I was there in Geneva as our team was gathering strength – I watched them reserve seats on the first planes. We saw the Swiss team, the search and rescue team, on that first plane with our team that went out to try to mobilize and coordinate the response. Since then, we have had more than 50 urban search and rescue teams from more than 30 countries. Not to mention the World Cup – this is what putting practical global solidarity into action really means.

People came from all over the continent, from Mexico, from Ecuador, from Panama, from the United States. They came from all over Europe, from Germany, from France, from the United Kingdom. They came from abroad, and there were teams mobilized from Syria and Israel, carrying out vital search and rescue work to try to find every possible survivor. I pay tribute to all the more than 3,000 rescue workers and 200 search dogs, and to our team members, who have mobilized under the umbrella of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Group. [United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination] -Our coordination team is on the ground.

As we heard from the Foreign Minister, the numbers of dead and missing are of course enormous. It was very important that in those early moments we also mobilized US$15 million from the emergency fund [Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF]And basic life-saving support, recognizing the magnitude of this challenge.

I am very grateful to the donors for this invitation, and to the Member States who contribute to this fund. It’s the fund for everyone, by everyone, and it was created specifically for moments like this when we need to mobilize quickly, when we don’t have time to get phones to everyone, but we need that money on the ground quickly. It is thanks to all of you that many lives have been saved.

I would also like to pay tribute to the work that has been done since day one on coordination, where Gianluca and the teams stood around the topic, coordination mechanisms between local groups, and all this complex technical work that we do to prepare for moments like this.

Across this human family we have seen extraordinary work, whether it is in health from the Pan American Health Organization providing primary health care, mental health, and psychosocial support; Teams from IOM and UNHCR – I’m in the UNHCR building now – to provide shelter and protection; UNICEF provides support to affected children; WFP delivers staple foods alongside partners like World Central Kitchen – I was in contact with Chef José Andrés yesterday upon my arrival – and they have done an exceptional job; Teams from the United Nations Development Programme, as we mentioned, from [UNDP Administrator] The Alexandre De Croo team is providing support in clearing debris and assessing long-term recovery needs. And then, of course, extraordinary teams, many of whom I saw working yesterday from across the NGO family: Caritas, World Vision, the Norwegian Refugee Council, the Danish Refugee Council, Save the Children, and many others who are calling on us now.

Along the way, the private sector has also stepped up with direct contributions that have already exceeded $32 million, digital satellite information, heavy machinery for debris removal, food and beverages, and a full range of vital support.

Now, for the next phase, it is essential – as we move from search and rescue efforts to the broader humanitarian response, to essential reconstruction, early recovery, and development response – that we have one clear, coordinated plan, and that we have that plan.

The team here has prepared a rapid needs assessment. This is data collected from across the humanitarian family to ensure we act on the most urgent priorities, which are now focused on shelter; On health; on water, sanitation and hygiene; food security; protection; education; And early recovery.

Naturally, the earthquakes exacerbated existing needs. Nearly 8 million people are already in need of humanitarian support across Venezuela. And let’s be clear, and we discussed this in an excellent meeting yesterday with the Acting President, that everything we do on the humanitarian side must be time-bound and focused on moving to recovery, early recovery, rebuilding, reconstruction, and long-term development.

Building on the assessments that we have done alongside the government – these are not just UN assessments, these are government assessments with the UN team – we are adding an annex to the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan. This looks at the multi-sectoral needs of an additional 1.3 million people facing social and economic needs over the next six months, who need life-saving support, and this is the bridge again, the important point, the bridge to recovery.

To this end, we need an additional US$296 million to enable and implement the response, which is on top of the US$632 million we launched our appeal for at the beginning of the year.

Now donors are really starting to come forward, and I applaud and thank them. Based on the tracking system already, Venezuela’s response received $300 million, and I appreciate every dollar of that support, including the $115 million received before the earthquake.

This now leaves us with a funding gap of $627 million to meet those urgent needs, and the Venezuelan Humanitarian Fund managed by OCHA is a critical tool for this response, allowing us to get support coming to these frontline partners in a rapid, coordinated and effective manner in line with the humanitarian reset.

Finally, I ask Member States and donors online: First, please translate the solidarity that we have heard, that we have seen in urban search and rescue teams and that we can feel in this call today, into this practical support. Please state in the reports you write from this meeting to your leadership that we need this expanded response, and that we have a clear plan: $296 million is needed to reach 1.3 million people with socioeconomic needs now, over six months. It is a time-bound plan.

Second, we ask you to invest in essential essential services that provide life-sustaining support – health systems, medical needs, water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter, food assistance, and education – as we move from search and rescue to humanitarian response to vital development response.

In cooperation with the Government, we are preparing a post-disaster needs assessment that will guide our work in this regard. Finally, and this is really key, we need sustained donor engagement. We will work very closely with our friends at the IMF, the World Bank, and the development community to ensure that this is one plan with clear transformation. We will of course support efforts to ensure sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets critical to the response.

International solidarity must not end as we move through this search and rescue response and into the next phase. We have to show that we will answer those mothers’ question – help is coming, and it will be sustainable, generous, flexible and predictable, alongside these clear needs of the people of Venezuela.

Let us prove now that global solidarity is as strong as ever, and that we will continue on this path. Thank you.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos