May 26, 2020

Peru hosts increasing numbers of Venezuelans seeking shelter from the ongoing political and economic crisis in Venezuela, many of whom remain in need of humanitarian assistance.

Situation

• Deteriorating conditions in Venezuela have contributed to increasing numbers of Venezuelans seeking assistance in Peru.  As of February, nearly 861,000 Venezuelans were sheltering in Peru,according to the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V).  Projections by relief actors suggest that the number could rise to nearly one million people by December 2020.
• Government of Peru (GoP) imposed changes to visa requirements for Venezuelan migrants in 2019 have resulted in a decrease in the number of Venezuelans crossing Peru’s borders via formal crossing points and impeded the ability for vulnerable Venezuelans to access essential services in Peru, according to relief actors.  However, many Venezuelans who arrive in Peru via the northern Tumbes Region remain in need of emergency food assistance.  In February, more than 68 percent of Venezuelan refugees and migrants surveyed in Tumbes identified access to nutritious food as their principal need, according to the UN.     
• Additionally, GoP measures intended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 across the region are significantly impacting vulnerable Venezuelan and host community members’ livelihoods and access to essential needs, worsening food security conditions among these populations, according to the R4V.  Venezuelans in Peru who were food-insecure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic remain particularly affected by the impacts of the pandemic, according to relief actors.

Response

• USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) and the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance jointly support World Vision and Save the Children in Peru to provide multi-sector humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Venezuelans and Peruvian host communities. 
• With FFP support, World Vision and its partners provide cash transfers for food to approximately 23,000 Venezuelans sheltering across Peru, as well as hot meals in community kitchens and shelters in La Libertad, Lima, and Tumbes departments.  In addition, FFP resources support World Vision to enable community kitchens and shelters to purchase critical cooking equipment, increasing the number of meals served per day to food-insecure Venezuelans and vulnerable host community members. 
• FFP also partners with Save the Children to provide cash transfers for food to approximately 33,000 Venezuelans transiting through or sheltering in Peru.  Additionally, Save the Children provides complementary nutritional services to prevent and detect acute malnutrition among young children and pregnant and lactating women, including supporting community health promoters in areas hosting Venezuelans.

Food for Peace Contributions

Total Contributions:

Related Resources

• Venezuela Regional Crisis Response
• USAID Humanitarian Assistance for the Venezuela Regional Crisis