“We are surrounded by death”: DEC charities call for urgent donations for water, food, medicines, shelter and psychological support
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC): call for donations to Venezuela Earthquake Appeal as buildings continue to collapse and traumatised families sleep in the streets
Spokespeople for interview contact: 020 7387 0200 or 07930 999 014 (out of hours) press1@dec.org.uk
* Hi-Res images for media use*
“We are surrounded by death”: DEC charities call for urgent donations for water, food, medicines, shelter and psychological support
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) outlined the full extent of damage and destruction and the need for urgent shelter, medical supplies and psychological support as it launched its Venezuela Earthquake Appeal at a London press conference.
A week after the earthquake hit, the event heard that the quakes have left 1,900 people dead, and 10,500 injured and in need of medical care. 50,000 people are estimated missing and 12,000 have been displaced from their homes, with an estimated 96,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.
Families with children are sleeping in the street, covered with plastic sheets or bedsheets as makeshift tents even though tropical rains are approaching. Others are sheltering in football stadia and temporary camps.
Search and recovery teams are still attempting to rescue survivors and DEC member agencies are providing equipment and psychological support for these workers.
The DEC said the challenges were the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ with numbers increasing every day and needs intensifying. Aid agencies fear cholera infections due to lack of clean water, worsened by potential flooding and overcrowded conditions.
Hannah Richards, DEC Director of Communications, was joined by colleague Madara Hettiarachchi, Director of Programmes & Accountability, and Ray Hasan, Christian Aid Impact Director as well as aid workers from DEC charities or their partners working on the ground in Caracas, the capital city.
Hannah Richards, DEC Director of Communications said:
“The full impact of this earthquake is still yet to be seen but what we do know is that hundreds of thousands of people in Venezuela desperately need our help right now.
“The immediate focus is to provide food and drinking water - which is critically short. But also, temporary shelter to people who have lost their homes, and water sanitation to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases, and medical assistance.
“Our priority is to help save and protect lives but also psychological support for people caught up in this disaster and who have experienced aftershocks.
“The more money we raise, the more people we can reach. Any amount you can give will make a huge difference.”
Dunia de Barnola, Country Director for Action Against Hunger, Venezuela, painted a vivid picture of how two of the hardest hit areas were affected, where they are distributing safe drinking water, food to people in living in the streets and medicines to shelters and health centres.
She said: “The La Guaira area is isolated between the mountain and the sea, making it very challenging to reach them the population which has a lot of older people living alone with specific needs. It’s a beach area with no functional toilets, no safe place to wash, and very limited access to drinking water.
“Caracas is a very small city, so everything is happening beside you. We are surrounded by death.”
She said what was ‘striking’ was the determination of communities to search for their loved ones with their bare hands before search and rescue were able to reach them.
"People were digging through mud and debris themselves hoping to find relatives, neighbours or friends.”
Mike Boomer, Head of Mission for Venezuela and Colombia for Cesvi, an Italian humanitarian organisation, a local partner of DEC member Plan International, said they were targeting Guarenas and Maracay, where the severity of the impact is more localized to specific neighbourhoods.
He said: “In Guarenas, we identified 2,000 individuals whose apartment buildings had completely collapsed and another 4,000 who’s buildings are condemned due to severe structural damage.
“Yesterday in the target area another building collapsed that had this structural damage. Countless people are sleeping in makeshift shelters, bedsheets hung over fences as their only protection from the elements, and it has started raining, making things even worse.
“Children have lost their sense of security, routine, the young ones don't understand what has happened just that they don’t feel safe.
He said that there was a lack of electricity and sanitation which was a ‘dangerous combination,’ putting women, girls and children at risk of abuse and trafficking.
“The needs are comprehensive: shelter, food, sanitations and hygiene and protection. the needs are both immediate and will be ongoing. The humanitarian response is both a sprint and a marathon,” he said.
Ray Hasan, Director of Impact, at Christian Aid, said they were a member of ACT Alliance, 160 faith rooted members that have a long history of working together in responding to emergencies.
He said community and faith buildings were being used as safe spaces, and medical centres doubling as distribution points for food packages and safe drinking water.
“It’s hugely busy in highly stressful and uncertain environment. Our partners have been dealing with their own trauma and sense of loss and anxiety. Living and standing alongside what’s happening, that’s taking a toll.
“The needs are going to be huge, and the real value of a DEC Appeal is it enables us and our partners to scale up and make a difference.”
The Venezuelan Earthquake Appeal is the first DEC appeal in South America since Peru in 1970, when an earthquake caused an avalanche off Mount Huascaran, burying two towns.
The Appeal – the 80th in the DEC’s history – was announced on the day of a special event marking the first ever broadcast appeal 60 years ago.
Broadcast appeal films to support the response by DEC charities are airing on BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky. Actor and International Rescue Committee Ambassador Adjoa Andoh fronted the BBC film. The commercial radio appeal was read by writer, actor and presenter Sir Michael Palin.
Every pound donated by the British public will be matched by the UK Government through its UK Aid Match scheme, up to the value of £2 million. The Scottish Government has announced funding of £250,000, and the Welsh Government £50,000.
Ms Richards said £10 could provide essential hygiene supplies to a family to prevent illness; £25 could help provide emergency food support to a family for a week; and £50 could provide shelter kits for three families whose homes have been destroyed
Venezuela was facing a severe economic crisis before the earthquakes, and the scale of the destruction so catastrophic that the authorities have declared a National State of Emergency.
Buildings were reduced to rubble in minutes following two back-to-back earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 which struck close to Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas just after 6pm local time on Wednesday 24 June. Five hundred aftershocks have been measured since 24 June, including a magnitude 5.2 aftershock Monday morning.
The second earthquake was the strongest to hit the country in more than a century. Around 96,000 buildings are believed to have been destroyed. The UN estimates that millions of people have been affected, with more than two million in the worst impacted areas.
With road, power lines and critical infrastructure destroyed, families are cut off from essential services and supplies. The country’s hospitals are under extreme pressure treating those in need of medical care.
DEC charities and their local partners have been working in Venezuela for many years. They are providing emergency medical treatment, delivering meals and food baskets, and ensuring people have access to clean drinking water, but funds are urgently needed to reach more families.
The DEC brings together 15 leading aid charities at times of crisis overseas. Fourteen member charities are responding in Venezuela including British Red Cross, Oxfam and Save the Children.
Media enquiries please call 07930 999 014 or 07890 839 270 (out of hours).
Interview requests: For spokespeople, pictures and b-roll please contact: sgard@dec.org.uk
Donations can be made online: dec.org.uk
ENDS
Notes to editors:
Media enquiries please call 020 7387 0200 or 07930 999 014 (out of hours)
For more information or to request interviews in advance please contact: press1@dec.org.uk
A collection of images and video footage of the aftermath of the earthquake and DEC charities responding is available here.
About the DEC: The DEC brings together 15 leading UK aid charities at times of crisis overseas to raise funds quickly and efficiently. In these times of crisis, people in life-and-death situations need our help and our mission is to save, protect and rebuild lives through effective humanitarian response.
The DEC’s 15 member charities are: Action Against Hunger, ActionAid UK, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide UK, International Rescue Committee UK, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Oxfam GB, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund and World Vision UK.
Fourteen of the DEC’s 15 member charities are either responding or planning to respond in Venezuela and will receive funds from this appeal.
Through UK Aid Match the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) gives the British public the opportunity to have a say in how the UK aid budget is spent whilst boosting the impact of the very best British charities to change and save the lives of some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
UK Aid Match has increased the impact of a number of DEC appeals to help those in need around the world, including most recently in the Myanmar Earthquake Appeal, the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal and the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
Enquiries about UK Aid Match and UK Government support for Venezuela should be directed to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Newsdesk. Please email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk.
How to donate:
Online: dec.org.uk
Phone: 0370 60 60 900
Text to give/SMS: text SUPPORT to 70150 to donate £10.
Donate over the counter at any high street bank or post office or send a cheque by post to: DEC Venezuela Earthquake Appeal, PO Box 999, London EC3A 3AA.