Giving Compass' Take:

• UNICEF reports that more than a million children displaced by the Venezuela crisis will need support in 2019.

• How can funders work together to address the needs of Venezuelan migrants, particularly children? 

• Learn why we must treat Venezuela as a protracted refugee crisis. 

As a result of the Venezuela migrant crisis, an estimated 1.1 million children –  including children uprooted from Venezuela, as well as returnees and those living in host and transit communities – will need protection and access to basic services across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019, UNICEF said. This is a projected increase from the nearly 500,000 children in need today. The UN children’s agency also called on Governments in the region to uphold the rights of all children, including migrants and refugees, and to ensure their access to essential services.

Humanitarian partners project that up to 4.9 million people in the region – including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago – will need assistance this year because of political and economic conditions inside Venezuela that are driving regional migration.

Uprooted children and families face challenges to regularizing their immigration status which can affect their access to social protection, healthcare, early childhood development, education, sustainable livelihoods and child protection. Meanwhile, the lack of comprehensive public policies on migratory issues in host countries is putting children at higher risk of discrimination, violence, family separation, xenophobia, exploitation and abuse.

UNICEF is particularly concerned about reports of xenophobia, discrimination, and violence perpetrated against Venezuelan children and families in host communities.

Read the full article about Venezuela migrant children from UNICEF.