Feeding hungry migrant Venezuelan children in Colombia
The Venezuela Crisis: A growing humanitarian emergency
The ongoing Venezuela Crisis has forced millions of people to flee their homes due to severe economic hardship, political instability, and a collapse in basic services. Families face extreme poverty, food shortages, and limited access to healthcare, pushing many to migrate to neighbouring countries like Colombia in search of safety and opportunities. Among the most vulnerable are children, who often bear the brunt of hunger, malnutrition, stunted growth, and the uncertainty of their circumstances.
Rising food insecurity in Colombia
Colombia's food security situation has drastically deteriorated over the past few years. The country has now been classified as a hunger hotspot by the United Nations due to the severity of its food security crisis.
Despite these challenges, Venezuelan families continue to cross the border into Colombia, seeking better opportunities. La Guajira, located in northern Colombia, currently has the highest concentration of Venezuelan families. Alarmingly, 60% of families in La Guajira experience significant difficulties securing sufficient food.
SOS Child-Friendly Spaces: A lifeline for vulnerable children
In response to this urgent crisis, SOS Children’s Villages operates Child-Friendly Spaces in La Guajira. A critical component of these spaces is the provision of nutritious meals and snacks. For many of these children, the meals provided are the only ones they receive during the day, making this support vital for their survival and wellbeing.
The SOS Child-Friendly Spaces also offer mental health support, recreational activities, and workshops designed to empower children with knowledge about self-protection. These workshops aim to prevent forced recruitment by armed forces, child labour, and sexual and gender-based violence. SOS Children’s Villages helps children meet their basic needs and build resilience and confidence by fostering a safe and supportive environment.
Supporting caregivers and strengthening child protection
In addition to supporting children, caregivers are invited to participate in monthly workshops on child protection. These sessions teach parents how to identify, prevent, and mitigate risks to their children. A child safeguarding committee further guides the community in effectively managing and reporting children’s rights violations.
Measuring impact
In the first 10 months of 2024, 727 children benefited from the nutritious meals and safe spaces provided by SOS Children’s Villages.
In partnership with the Christadelphian Meal-a-Day Fund (CMaD), we distributed more than 8,000 nutritious meals to vulnerable Venezuelan migrant children in La Guajira, Colombia. The meals were locally procured from Venezuelan migrants who launched catering businesses through the SOS Children’s Villages Family Strengthening Program.
A child’s perspective
Harento*, a child participant from the Milagro de Dios Child-Friendly Space in Riohacha, shares his experience:
"Today, I want to tell you about the delicious food I received from the SOS Children’s Villages Child-Friendly Space. It is very nutritious and helps my 'baliguita' (belly) not hurt. Every time I go to bed and get up, and my mom is not there to cook or care for me because she had to go to work, I go to the SOS Child-Friendly Space with other children like me. There they give me food, and I can receive help to do my homework and everything else."
Through initiatives like these, SOS Children’s Villages continues to address the urgent needs of migrant Venezuelan children and their families in Colombia, providing them with hope and a pathway to a healthier future.
*Name changed to protect privacy.