How to help children in South America
UNICEF's work in South America is coordinated through the Latin America and Caribbean regional office in Panama City, and implemented through UNICEF's country offices in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Working with partners in all major program areas — from health and immunization to nutrition, education to child protection — UNICEF reaches millions of children in the region every year, helping to improve their lives and futures.
Priorities include:
- helping communities recover from far-reaching effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
- strengthening primary health care services including essential child immunizations
- improving access to quality education to address learning poverty
- strengthening social systems and services to better prevent violence against children
- mitigating the effects of climate change in Guyana and Suriname, by improving safe water access, sanitation and hygiene
- rushing emergency relief to areas hit by disaster — such as the dam collapse followed by flooding in Bahia state, Brazil in December 2021 — and assisting with recovery
- providing support and protection to increasing numbers of children and families migrating north through the Darien Gap, a dangerous route connecting Colombia to Panama
UNICEF in Venezuela
UNICEF is also responding to the migration crisis triggered by socio-economic and political upheaval in Venezuela — providing displaced and migrating children and families with psychosocial support, medical care, safe water, warm clothing and other assistance at reception centers as far away as Chile.
Inside Venezuela, UNICEF is delivering essential services to children and families who have suffered the worst effects of the country's economic collapse — meeting urgent needs for nutrition and immunization, prenatal care for pregnant women, access to safe water and education, and child protection from violence, exploitation and abuse.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to help ensure the world's children are healthy, educated, protected and respected. Help increase UNICEF's impact for children. Donate today.
Top photo: Joselin, 4, from Venezuela, receives help at a UNICEF-supported reception center for migrant families in Iquique, Chile on April 25, 2022. © UNICEF/UN0652380/Vera-Lisperguer/AFP-Services