In the face of economic challenges and social disparities, Venezuela has been fighting a lengthy battle affecting much of its population. In the last decade, the poverty rate in Venezuela has increased considerably each year, a glaring issue among South American countries. Fortunately, several impactful nonprofit organizations are dedicated to addressing and mitigating this growing crisis. Alimenta la Solidaridad This group was founded in 2016 by Roberto Patiño. It originally focused on managing the food crisis affecting the most vulnerable populations in Venezuela. The organization started sm ..read more

Venezuela’s vastly underfunded education department reflects the backwardness of the country’s primary and secondary education. In recent decades, nationwide political and economic turmoil has allowed unstable education policy to occur, causing 85% of public schools to lack internet access, 69% to suffer constant electrical shortages and 45% to go without running water. A generation of young Venezuelans are left out of the education system and these academic deficiencies could result in further pulling the population into poverty. To ensure this dismal future does not befall the nation, the No ..read more

On October 18, 2023, three newly introduced U.S. licenses marked possible change for Venezuela. These have the potential to improve a fallen economy and reduce poverty rates in the nation. December 4, 2023, marked a further promise to restore Venezuelan democracy. Taken together, the South American nation enters 2024 with a majority supporting a governmental change — one that has the potential to reduce poverty in Venezuela. Venezuela’s Economy and Politics Ongoing economic collapse since the mid-2010s resulted in Venezuela losing 80% of its GDP, and the Venezuelan bolivar is a currency that i ..read more

Supported by China’s International Poverty Reduction Center, President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela announced Venezuela’s new poverty reduction program to combat inequality and tackle extreme poverty. The partnership came after President Nicolás Maduro’s trip to China earlier this year, in September, where the Venezuelan president met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing to develop economic ties.  The result of the meeting led to the agreement of the “all-weather strategic partnership” between the two nations. These include the 31 new bilateral cooperation agreements focusing on developing ..read more

Women in the U.S. have been dealing with gender inequality and the lack of parity for decades, but people rarely discuss the gender wage gap in Venezuela. The gap has reduced since the 1990s, but the wages of men in Venezuela (and Latin America in general) still average around 25 percentage points higher than women. Here is more information about the gender wage gap in Venezuela. About the Gender Wage Gap in Venezuela As of 2021, in Venezuela, women have a labor participation rate of 40%, while males have a rate of 65%. According to the NGO Centre for Justice and Peace (CEPAZ), 70%+ of Venezue ..read more

In Venezuela, many challenges persist, mainly political instability and hyperinflation. These issues have hurt most Venezuelans, resulting in many other challenges. Extreme poverty is common, affecting three out of every four citizens, and if citizens aren’t in extreme poverty, they are on the brink. Many daily struggles Venezuelans face include inadequate health care infrastructure, limited food access and economic instability. Many products are scarce in the country, including necessities like essential medicines, clean water and affordable food. Approximately 76% of Venezuela’s population l ..read more

The collapse of global oil prices in 2014 led to a rapid economic decline in Venezuela and subsequent hyperinflation. In 2015, this caused a rebellion and the forming of a major opposition group whose leader Guaidó became the interim leader of Venezuela. The standoff between the two leaders was exacerbated by U.S. and EU support for Guaidó and Russian and Chinese support for Maduro. Social services could not be provided, and as a result, many refugees traveled underfed and carrying disease. While Maduro managed to get inflation down a bit in his presidency, the pandemic caused a second economi ..read more

USAID has been critical in providing Venezuela with aid in the form of food assistance, health care accessibility and water support. Due to the extreme political and economic crisis in the nation, millions of Venezuelans have fled to surrounding nations like Panama and Mexico, and the majority of those still in the nation live below the poverty line. To help resolve the crisis, the U.S. deployed an interagency collective to support economic and health development, with USAID being one of the primary bodies responsible. Since 2018, USAID has allocated almost $450 million in humanitarian aid and ..read more

Since 2015, Latin America has undergone a remarkable evacuation of migrants from Venezuela instigated by an economic and political crisis within the country resulting in hyperinflation, starvation and crime. In 2020, more than 95% of people in Venezuela were living in poverty, thus many have been forced to leave. The UN has given Venezuelan migrants refugee-like status which has sparked a major migration to Colombia.  Colombia: The Second Largest Host to a Refugee-Like Population Colombia has become the world’s largest recipient of Venezuelans as it holds approximately 40% of all Venezue ..read more

Estimates suggest that there will be around 1.6 million Venezuelan immigrants living in Peru by the end of 2023. Moreover, UNHCR estimates that more than 7 million Venezuelans have left their country to seek protection in other countries. Venezuelan migration, primarily to its neighboring countries in the region, is mainly due to the international humanitarian crisis recognized by institutions such as the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNRA) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This crisis consists of issues such as political instability, weakening economies, COVID-19, natur ..read more