Venezuela Humanitarian Fund

The Venezuela Humanitarian Fund (VHF) was established in 2020 as a rapid and flexible funding mechanism supporting national and international NGOs and UN agencies to respond to the most pressing or critical emergencies in a fast-changing environment. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Venezuela, the VHF supports the timely allocation and disbursement of donor resources to the most critical humanitarian needs defined in the Venezuela Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).  

The humanitarian situation in Venezuela continues to affect the most vulnerable people, who face limited income generation opportunities, and continued challenges accessing basic services, such as healthcare, access to water, and energy supply. Even though there have been some signs of economic recovery, such improvements have yet to reach the most vulnerable population groups. In 2023, 7.6 million people were estimated to require urgent assistance in the country.  

The HC is supported by the OCHA Head of office/Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and the VHF Advisory Board. The Board includes representatives of donors, national and international NGOs, and UN agencies to ensure decisions reflect views from across the humanitarian community.  

The Fund is operationally managed by OCHA Venezuela, through its Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU) based in Caracas. This ensures that the VHF is managed from the central level, while allocation processes and monitoring are conducted close to partners and projects on the ground.  

Like all Country-Based Pooled Funds, the VHF is designed to complement other humanitarian funding sources such as bilateral funding and from the Central Emergency Response Fund.