Venezuela
The humanitarian and civil crises in Venezuela continue to worsen. People continuously face acute shortages of food, medicine, and water and frequent power blackouts in what used to be the most wealthy country in Latin America. Due to extreme poverty, a dysfunctional health system, and the injustice and brutality of the Venezuelan regime, countless Venezuelans are either dying or fleeing the country.
We have worked in Venezuela since 2014, where our programme supports human rights and independent civil society. With the current escalation of the situation in the region, we plan to expand our support. It is now possible to help those in need through local NGOs with whom we have worked since our engagement in Venezuela began. In the case of a dramatic, worsening situation, we are ready to help attend to the current needs and security situation.
Supporting civil society
We have a network of partnering non-profit organisations and a small, stable team. Since 2014, Czech donors have donated over CZK 2 million to Venezuela through our Club of Friends. These donations help us support projects involving independent journalists, the politically persecuted, people without access to medicine, and people from poor and socially excluded areas. Our first projects supported the local human rights centre, where lawyers help victims of politically motivated prosecution and support young people from disadvantaged areas to paint their positive art on walls previously covered by propaganda.
Four years ago, we helped establish the radio programme Humano Derecho. Back when the space for civil society and the free media was becoming increasingly narrow, the radio only broadcasted a few times per week. Today, it is a full-fledged medium that addresses various social issues from different perspectives.
In 2018, we partnered with Venezuelan universities and young people; we support three years of education in peace studies and conflict resolution—this is our biggest project in Venezuela. Together with our partner organisations, we organise academic courses in Venezuela on peaceful conflict resolution and leadership. At the same time, we connect students with representatives of civil society and activists.
Advocacy
We assisted Venezuelan organisations and activists in organising advocacy trips around Europe and directly supported them during the attendance of the international forum. We organised a meeting between Venezuelan activists and prominent figures of the EU and supported their attendance at UN negotiations in Geneva.
The guests from Venezuela regularly attend the international human rights film festival One World, which is held annually in Prague and Brussels.
