FACTSHEET | R4V: Situation of Venezuelan indigenous women and girls in host countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
R4V | Venezuela | February 24, 2022
Regional Protection Sector CONFIDENTIAL contributions to the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes, and consequences. Mrs. Reem Alsalem
Background
The Interagency Coordination platform for the response to refugees and migrants from Venezuela was activated in 2018 by request of the Secretary General under the leadership of UNHCR and IOM to guarantee effective and organized response to the Venezuelan crisis in Latin-America and the Caribbean through nine regional thematic sectors led by UN Agencies and NGOs. The Regional Protection Sector, led by UNHCR and HIAS, gathers 109 organizations in 17 countries of the region aiming to address existing protection gaps and guarantee effective access of refugees and migrants to national protection mechanisms.
In 2020 the regional sector identified most affected populations in the context of the COVID- 19; Venezuelan indigenous from were identified as one of the groups absorbing disproportionate impacts linked to discrimination, language barriers, lack of technical capacity, visibility, etc.
By 2021 and in coordination with national protection sectors and working groups, the presence of this population group was confirmed in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean subregion), Colombia and Brazil. 4 regional consultations with Venezuelan indigenous in these countries were conducted and lead to the identification of 8 common protection areas of impact: i) access to land and housing, ii) regularization, documentation, and international protection, iii) double affectation and organized crime, iv) gender-based violence, v) persons at higher risk and from specific groups, vi) livelihoods and education, vii) durable solutions, viii) xenophobia and discrimination.
As agreed with the indigenous representatives and by the end of 2021 the Sector conducted 9 national thematic sessions in the 4 countries to identify concrete impacts and proposals in each of the 8 common areas identified at the regional level. Proposals made by 135 delegates that participated in these sessions were presented to Special Rapporteurs of the IACHR and the UNSRs in a high-level forum conducted in November 30/2021.
This contribution gathers concrete protection impacts and gaps identified by Venezuelan indigenous during the national sessions, more specifically linked to gender-based violence, double affectation and organized crime, xenophobia, and discrimination.
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