Multisectoral response to the humanitarian needs and protection risks of children, adolescents, and their families in the Orinoco Mining Arc.


The NRC intervention seeks to provide assistance in the sectors of Protection, Education, Food Security and Livelihoods, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, to 6,483 direct beneficiaries, including children, adolescents, and their families in communities and schools of the Orinoco Mining Arc; a hotspot area for illegal mining and high levels of violence in Bolivar state, near the border between Venezuela and Brazil, a priority area for the SDC Guidance Note for Venezuela 2022-2024.

Pays/région Thème Période Budget
Venezuela
Aide humanitaire & RRC
Education
Eau
nothemedefined
Aide alimentaire d'urgence
Equipements scolaires et formation
Assainissement d'eau
Protection, accès & sécurité
15.06.2023 - 31.12.2024
CHF  920’000
Contexte Roscio and El Callao municipalities in Bolívar State are part of the Orinoco Mining Arc, due to their important gold deposits. This has made them destinations for internally displaced Venezuelans that look for economic opportunities. These municipalities present problems in terms of Protection since it is controlled by non-State armed groups that expose children, adolescents, and young people, to risks such as family abandonment, human trafficking and child labor. Women and other vulnerable groups have adopted negative coping mechanisms, such as transactional sex, school dropout to work in the informal sector or getting recruited into armed groups, teenage pregnancy, and child marriage. In terms of legal protection, communities face numerous barriers to obtain birth certificates and identity documents. The main ones are: 1) Difficulties to move freely within the country; 2) Impossibility to access State benefits and services; 3) Lack of access to formal employment; and 4) Limited access to Education. In schools, the absence of teachers and dropout rates is significant. Low salaries have pushed teachers and students towards the informal economy or to work in mines. Families of children and adolescents must prioritize meeting their basic needs, and education is not at the top of priorities. Access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is another challenge since access to drinking water and the solid waste management are limited. Due to mining, the Orinoco Mining Arc has also become a disease hotspot, and at the same time, a source of water contamination. In terms of Food Security and Livelihoods, the National Survey of Living Conditions 2022 in Venezuela reported that 81% of the population of Roscio and El Callao live below the extreme poverty line and 73% of households are food insecure. 
Objectifs Mitigate the protection risks and respond to the immediate needs in Education, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, and Food Security and Livelihoods of the communities affected by the socioeconomic crisis in the Orinoco Mining Arc of Venezuela. 
Groupes cibles

Direct beneficiaries of SDC:

A total of 6’483 people (4’700 female, 1’783 male), including children from 0 to 5 years old, children and young people from 6 to 18 years old, adult/elderly people, and a 5% of people with disabilities.

Indirect beneficiaries of SDC:

A total estimated of 19’532 people (9’766 female, 9’766 male).

Effets à moyen terme

Outcome 1: Increase the ability of the most vulnerable communities in the Orinoco Mining Arc region to exercise and enjoy legal identity rights, thus mitigating the protection risks they are exposed to and allowing school-age girls and boys to fully enjoy their right to education.

Outcome 2: Strengthen equitable access to quality basic services in Education through integrated programming with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, build resilience and support Food Security and Livelihoods of the most vulnerable populations of the Orinoco Mining Arc in Bolivar State. 

Résultats

Principaux résultats attendus:  

Outcome 1:

Output 1. The ability of 2’224 people in five vulnerable communities in the Mining Arc region to exercise and enjoy legal identity rights, thus mitigating the protection risks they are exposed to and allowing school-age girls and boys to fully enjoy their right to education is increased.

Output 2. A response to sudden emergency is provided to 640 people. 

Outcome 2:

Output 3. 3’822 school-age girls and boys and teachers have access to safe and accessible learning environments, and formal education facilities improve with interventions in infrastructure rehabilitation and distribution of educational materials.

Output 4. 2’000 people affected by the Venezuelan crisis improve their ability to respond to their food needs. 

Total number of direct beneficiaries planned in phase 2: 6’483 by SDC, and 12’139 by other donors (SIDA, BHA, NMFA), for a total of 18,621 direct beneficiaries.

This project is part of an enhanced NRC approach in which NRC is increasingly seeking to propose multi-sectoral solutions, proposing a comprehensive response to the participants and the same person receives several services thus contributing to better resilience. On the contrary, the codonant part represents the scope of 4 separate and independent projects whose level of integration is low. 


Principaux résultats antérieurs:  

Outcome 1

Protection:

  • Using mobile clinics for the Information, Counselling, and Legal Assistence program, it was possible to transmit information regarding legal identity issues to 1’037 people.

Outcome 2

Education:

  • 130 children and adolescents signed up for the remedial program created by the NRC team.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene:

  • The WASH program intervention in 4 schools benefited a total of 1’162 people from the educational communities
  • 971 students and teachers benefited from workshops to improve hygiene habits at school. 

Food Security and Livelihoods:

  • 130 beneficiary households involved with the community gardens have harvested approximately 2’000 kilograms of fresh vegetables to date.
  • 11 of the 79 beneficiary households that received goat kits reported recent births of 16 goats, positively impacting the family economy, by providing a new productive asset that can be sold or exchanged.

Total number of beneficiaries by SDC in phase 1 of the project (according to the latest report - 31.10.2022): 4'620 direct beneficiaries. 


Direction/office fédéral responsable DDC
Crédit Aide humanitaire
Partenaire de projet Partenaire contractuel
ONG internationale ou étrangère
  • Norwegian Refugee Council


Coordination avec d'autres projets et acteurs NRC coordinates the access to activities with Mayors and local representatives of the Ministry of Health, ‘Zonas Educativas’, Registry Offices and the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Administrative Service for Identification, Migration and Foreigners, and the offices of General and Child Protection. At the same time, NRC establishes synergies in the field with UNHCR and ICRC.
Budget Phase en cours Budget de la Suisse CHF    920’000 Budget suisse déjà attribué CHF    777’232
Phases du projet Phase 2 15.06.2023 - 31.12.2024   (Phase en cours)