A UNICEF charter flight carrying emergency supplies for children and families has landed in Valencia, Venezuela, less than 72 hours after the double earthquakes struck on 24 June.
The shipment - dispatched from UNICEF’s regional hub in Panama - includes medical and emergency health kits, protective equipment for frontline health workers, collapsible water tanks to restore safe drinking water, and thousands of hygiene kits for affected families.
It is the first of several humanitarian flights UNICEF is sending to Venezuela in the coming days from a range of its humanitarian supply hubs as the scale of the disaster continues to escalate.
Speaking from UNICEF’s supply warehouse in Panama, where 22 tons of aid has been shipped from, Roberto Benes, Regional Director, UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office said: "These supplies will reach our team on the ground who have already been moving from day one, from the first moment, to save lives".
As of 27 June, authorities have confirmed that at least 1,430 people have died and another 3,238 have been injured, with those figures expected to rise.
UNICEF says children are among the most at risk in crises like this - children face heightened risk of injury, family separation, displacement, and acute distress.
UNICEF teams are on the ground working with partners conducting ongoing assessments about what is further needed to support a rapid, effective response to this crisis.
The disaster comes on top of an already fragile humanitarian situation, with many children in Venezuela facing ongoing challenges accessing basic services like healthcare, clean water and adequate nutrition.
UNICEF has worked in Venezuela since 1967 and is continuing to scale up its response, working alongside our partners.
UNICEF Australia has launched an emergency appeal for Australians to help with relief efforts at www.unicef.org.au. $100 could help provide 20,975 water purification tablets, and $500 could help provide 11 first aid kits, which could help treat a range of injuries during emergency situations.