IOM Venezuela proposes a multisectoral approach to the response that ensures access to basic needs through a network of assistance located in strategic points along migratory routes. Essential activities are:

• Strengthen the capabilities of IOM implementing partners (IPs) and improve IOM’s humanitarian network and operational standards of the response (according to context and needs) in 15 mobile points and nine transit centers along the migratory route to guarantee the provision of assistance and protection (particularly to returnees).
• Provide food at transit centres, according to nutritional guidelines from the Food Security and Livelihood Cluster.
• Provide food and NFIs in host/transit communities and most vulnerable households (including those of returnees and the left behind) to mitigate risk factors related to migration.

IOM Venezuela develops a comprehensive set of activities aimed at strengthening local capacities on CCCM, to ensure compliance with high standards of operation aligned with the Shelter Management Guide developed by IOM in Venezuela. The main activities are:

• Standardize transit center (supported by IOM and other UN agencies and NGOs) management model in physical space, waste management, water use, and basic services (including food, accommodation, WASH, health, and protection).
• Provide equipment to improve the space for safe and dignified assistance. Maintain the provision, supplies, and equipment following the transit centers` standards of operation.
• Develop a monitoring and evaluation tool for mapping needs and determine minimum standards for temporary centers.
• Strengthen the capacities of local partners management skills through CCCM training and the development of guidelines and protocols for the consolidation of humanitarian standards, with a particular emphasis on the quality of multisectoral assistance, protection mainstreaming, compliance with data collection and management protocols, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and AAP.
• Ensure the establishment of communication channels to receive feedback from users as "active users," reinforcing their participation in the transit centers dynamics.
• Develop a strategy to promote income-generating activities in coordination with the communities, to foster TAC sustainability and strengthen links with the communities.
• Provide strategic and technical advice to the humanitarian interagency system via the CCCM Working Group, with particular emphasis on the local level and public institutions (Civil Protection, Firefighters, 911 Venezuela), which allows the management of shelters in situations related to response to disasters or other situations.

IOM will ensure direct provision of health services in vulnerable communities, migratory routes, and border areas through:

• Basic direct medical care for people on the move (including returnees) at assistance points established along the route and transit centers including first aid, general medical assessment and care, health checks, vital signs monitoring, prescription of basic medication, provision of key messages on health promotion and disease prevention. Mobile and static assistance will be provided by a team composed of a doctor and/or nurse with basic equipment and medication.
• Primary health care activities in transit and host communities impacted by migration through multidisciplinary Mobile Health Teams, comprised of an obstetrician-gynecologist, a pediatrician, a practitioner, a general psychologist, and a pharmacist.
• Establish white codes: creating safe referral pathways between transit centers and primary and secondary health facilities to ensure comprehensive medical services for people on the move (including returnees) with an emphasis on medical emergencies.
• Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) and provide integrated and coordinated health, MHPSS and GBV care to  victims of trafficking and survivors of GBV identified in the migratory route, TACs, or communities including coordinated referral pathways.
• Expand Mobile Health Units to improve access to primary care services, mainly maternal and child health, pediatric consultations, internal medicine and mental health and psychosocial support, and pharmacy services.
• Provide basic equipment, medical supplies, and medications to support primary care services.

Under this key pillar of IOM's protection strategy in Venezuela, IOM will:

• Provide psychosocial first aid (PFA) to people on the move (including returnees) at mobile assistance points and transit centers along the migratory route.
• Provide comprehensive MHPSS services at the community level (in host, transit, and indigenous communities), including individual and group counseling, PFA and community and family support activities (socio-relational activities).
• Expand MHPSS services provided by the interdisciplinary Psychosocial Mobile Team (PMT).
• Develop a specific and comprehensive MHPSS service at the five Temporary Shelters for People with Special Protection Needs, focusing on victims of human trafficking and survivors of gender-based violence.
• Provide safe referral pathways to specialized mental health services for people with severe health conditions in close coordination with health staff.
• As co-leader of the Technical Working Group on MHPSS, ensure relevant information on MHPSS and facilitate inter-agency coordination and strategic, programmatic and operational synergies.

IOM Venezuela provides post-arrival assistance and humanitarian transportation support to spontaneous voluntary returns identified at assistance points within Venezuelan territory. Returnees receive support to reach their final destination, ensuring: 

• A safe means of travel to their community of origin by land or air.
• Temporary accommodation assistance and food to support movement to community of origin. 
• In cases with special protection needs or MHPSS requirements, referral to existing protection systems (authorities, NGOs, UN Agencies).
• Monitoring the process individually.

IOM leads the Working Group for the Prevention and Response to Human Trafficking in Venezuela, with a focus on the prevention of CT, assistance, and protection of VoTs. The Working Group aims to eliminate and mitigate all forms of violence, including but not limited to extortion, abuse, exploitation, trafficking in persons, GBV, and abuses against human dignity.

Along the migratory route, including host/transit communities (and indigenous communities) with high protection risks due to mining and the presence of non-state armed groups, IOM will:

• Facilitate access to life-saving information and guidance on protection risks, key information on safe migration, available services, and rights. 
• Provide basic legal assistance and key information and facilitate access to documentation for  people in mobility (including returnees).
• Provide individual protection assistance and case management services, improving integration of health, MHPSS and protection response with emphasis on victims of trafficking and survivors of GBV, children and adolescents, and vulnerable returnees.
• Reinforce the referral pathway with local service providers including health, MHPSS and protection, focusing on victims of trafficking and survivors of GBV, children and adolescents, and returnees.
• Improve cross-border coordination between IOM offices in border countries monitoring trends, dynamic and modus operandi of the human trafficking network.
• Strengthen the network of protection and assistance through five Temporary Shelters for People with Special Protection Needs (for the safe direct assistance of VoT and/or GBV survivors) in the border states of Apure, Tachira, Bolivar, and Zulia. This protection network, with separate spaces for VoT and GBV survivors, will streamline the assistance of VoTs through case management, inter-institutional coordination, access to information, and promoting a culture of protection and rights.
• Develop a specific analysis of protection risks in indigenous communities in Amazon and Bolivar, and a mapping of available services and actors, with a focus on mining areas, to create a safe and effective referral with key partners.

At the inter-agency and governmental levels:

• Through the Working Group for the Prevention and Response to Human Trafficking, strengthen the capacities of the Protection Cluster with skills and know-how on methodologies, indicators, frameworks, and ethical safeguards in information management activities on counter trafficking in emergencies (CTIE) and register and manage cases of VoTs or persons at risk of trafficking in persons (TIP) with strict adherence to the IOM Data Protection Manual and Principles.
• Consolidate local inter-agency working groups, at the state level, in trafficking.
• Advocate for a national discussion process on the issue of trafficking and accompany an improvement process of legal instruments and procedures in compliance with international norms, standards, and IOM best practices.
• Strengthen national, state, and municipal capacities in trafficking and GBV with a specific training package for the Judicial Circle for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, the Prosecutor’s Office, and other institutions with jurisdiction.

IOM will focus on improving access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for people on the move, transit/host communities, and indigenous communities for a safer and disease-free migration. The main activities are:

Along the migratory route and in transit centers:

• Provide safe water and hydration measures to people on the move (including returnees) at mobile assistance points and transit centers.
• Promote good hygiene practices for people on the move and relevant information on access to sanitation.
• Conduct educational sessions on health and hygiene promotion, including menstrual hygiene management to people on the move and in transit centers, in close coordination with health staff.
• Provision of training on the use of water purification tablets and chlorine.
• Standardize TACs’ water management systems regarding resource management, water quality, filtering, distribution, and use.
• Improve and increase the capacity of TACs’ water storage systems to reduce operational costs.
• Develop a maintenance plan for the sanitation infrastructure in temporary shelters according to National WASH Cluster guidance and in observation of local regulations and standards.
• Standardize solid waste management and black and gray water in temporary shelters according to the standards.

In transit and host communities and indigenous communities:

• Deliver basic hygiene kits at the community level.
• Distribute family filters and develop training sessions for use and maintenance.
• Distribute tanks for water storage and training sessions for proper use and maintenance, avoiding vector borne diseases.
• Distribute hygiene kits to the vulnerable population (returnees), including menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits, with particular emphasis on women and girls of reproductive ages. Hygiene kits contain toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorant, bags, water purification tablets, antibacterial gel, latex gloves, soap, and masks.
• Strengthen communities' hygiene behavior through hygiene promotion activities, including posters, focus group discussions, awareness campaigns, and dissemination of information, education, and communication (IEC) materials.
• Expand the Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Strategy focused on disseminating best practices in hygiene management, water use, and sanitation.

IOM will: 

• Rehabilitate 4 TAC’s infrastructure's physical space for safe and dignified assistance and protection, including preventive maintenance of water, sanitation, and electricity systems.
• Maintain the provision, supplies, and equipment following standards to ensure TACs functionality.
• Rehabilitate five infrastructures for being able to operate as Temporary Shelters for People with Special Protection Needs, mainly focusing on victims of human trafficking and gender-based violence and priority attention to returnees (See Protection activities).

DTM is a crucial asset of the international community in Venezuela as it fosters evidence-based decision-making, improves interagency coordination, strategic and operational programming and advocacy with key stakeholder and donors. Main activities are:

• Continuously monitor migration flows and trends.
• Develop statistical surveys to determine people in mobility’s profiles (including characteristics and needs): including migrants in transit, IDPs and returnees.
• Ensure equitable representation of male and female respondents in data products and analyses and the safe collection of gender- or sex-specific data where useful and usable.
• Provide training on data collection, data protection, confidentiality and PSEA.
• Collect data through multiple methodologies (registration, key informant interviews, individual and households’ surveys, secondary information, field visits etc), in both rural and urban areas, desegregated by sex and geographically, among other parameters.  
• Through the Working Group on Trafficking in Persons, conduct context and trends analysis at the border states in Venezuela to support Protection Cluster activities.
• Develop climate vulnerability assessments and studies focused on disaster displacement and other forms of climate induced human mobility. 
• Develop a wide range of material to guarantee a comprehensive understanding of the situation, such as maps, dashboards, reports, and raw data, which is shared on a regular basis with key partners and stakeholders.
• Ensure that personal and identifiable data and sensitive information are protected and anonymized, according to the IOM Data Protection Principles.
• Ensure that data and other information obtained within the framework of humanitarian information does not undermine humanitarian efforts or is not used for personal or political purposes. 
• Elaborate and disseminate reports on human mobility accessible for all clusters, to inform strategic and operational decision-making. 

IOM will:    

• Support the data collection exercise and needs and vulnerabilities mapping for the development of the Humanitarian Needs Overview along the migratory route and affected communities (transit/host).
• Support with figures, data, analysis and statistics to facilitate the 2024 HRP process. 
• Elaborate and disseminate reports on human mobility accessible for all clusters, to inform strategic and operational decision-making.
• Keep donors updated on migration trends and migrants’ profiles.

In order to improve the preparedness and capacity of communities and institutions to respond to further disaster-related shocks, IOM will: 

• Promote contingency plans/community response plans/SOPs, which guarantee an adequate analysis of threats, risks, and vulnerabilities in host and indigenous communities.
• Strengthen community early warning systems based on technical-scientific and ancestral knowledge in coordination with Civil Protection and other response institutions.
• Strengthen the capacities of stakeholders through the Mass Evacuation in Natural Disasters (MEND) Guide.
• Support the development of community information management and coordination mechanisms.
• Support assessment and mapping of local hazards and risks and conduct contextualized community-based emergency preparedness simulation exercises.
• Preposition lifesaving and humanitarian relief goods, ready to be dispatched, including shelter, WASH, NFIs, and health supplies and medications.
• Provide training involving communities in the selection of safe sites for shelters and WASH-related interventions.

Communities are the centre of action to promote a safe, dignified and sustainable re-(integration) process. IOM Venezuela promotes community stabilization by addressing the causes and mitigating the longer-term impact of crises and displacement, developing conflict-sensitive activities that promote the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (HDPN), strengthening the relationship between communities and local institutions, and promoting community development plans. Community stabilization in Venezuela encompasses multisectoral, comprehensive, medium and long-term interventions, focused on overcoming the humanitarian scenario by promoting economic recovery, the improvement of basic services and the strengthening of communities’ networks and capacities. Key activities are:

• Rehabilitate basic infrastructure such as primary health care facilities, schools and other community infrastructure, such as parks, sports areas, and meeting areas, to promote social inclusion and participation
• Revitalize markets via community-based food security and livelihoods initiatives to promote local food production, self-sufficiency, social cohesion between host communities and returnees (or people on the move), avoid negative coping mechanisms, and enhance access to income sources.
• Assist in the design of a comprehensive reintegration life plan, which ensures a sustainable model of livelihood or income generation, contributing to individual, family, and community stabilization.
• Promote a safe and dignified reintegration by improving basic services and economic opportunities through productive projects and enterprises for the entire community.
• Support community-based socio-relational activities oriented toward restoring social cohesion, reintegration of returnees, supportive interpersonal networks, and marginalized inclusion. The main activities are related to sports, cultural events, and promoting civic dialogue.
• In the indigenous communities, Pemon, Kariña, Eñepa, Yekwana, Piaroa, and Hivi promote social cohesion practices following indigenous worldviews, life, and ancestral practices.
• Accompany the development of community life plans.
• Accompany the strengthening of community organization structures and their relationship and coordination with local authorities and basic service providers.
• Establish a safer environment in local communities through GBV awareness sessions and sensitization campaigns on GBV risk mitigation, prevention, detection and referral of trafficking, and other forms of exploitation, abuse, and extortion.
• Strengthen community mechanisms in protection and safe case detection, identification, assistance, and reporting channels (community protection networks).

Strengthening the health system in Venezuela requires a holistic approach. IOM improves access to services by supporting first-level community centers with infrastructural rehabilitation, provision of equipment and strengthening the capacity of health staff. IOM promotes the creation of networks of health promoters and accompanies community-based surveillance processes and other public health strategies in coordination with local authorities. Activities include: 

• Improve first-level community health care centres, with a particular emphasis on distributing disinfection kits and training health care providers on infection prevention and control (IPC) (in line with WHO Minimum Requirements for Infection Prevention and Control Programmes).
• Identify, train, and mentor community health workers (CHWs) in the host, transit, and indigenous communities. Training will be focused on themes related to first aid, as well as health promotion (breastfeeding, vaccination, healthy infant feeding practices, STI including HIV prevention, general health habits and hygiene) and disease prevention (prevalent diseases of childhood alarm signs, basic care during pregnancy and alarm signs, vital signs check).
• Train CHW in community-based syndromic disease surveillance to support the main surveillance system with early detection of events and issuing of alerts at the community level. This includes refreshment training in disease surveillance for local HCWs and fostering communication between the community, the local health facility and the epidemiologist of the local health district.
• Promote focus group discussions with community members to discuss local beliefs around ill-health, existing knowledge on signs and symptoms of communicable and non-communicable diseases, healthcare-seeking behaviors, and available healthcare services.
• Strengthen the local health system through the capacity building of CHWs to improve medical referrals, community-based health surveillance, disease control and prevention, psychological first aid, and detection of VoT and GBV survivors, in close coordination with MHPSS and protection teams.
• Rehabilitate the water supply infrastructure by installing or rehabilitating handwashing stations in targeted health centers to prevent waterborne diseases and promote good hygiene practices under the WHO-UNICEF WASH-FIT strategy on improving quality of care in health care facilities and WHO IPC Guidelines in close coordination with WASH teams.
• Integrate a chlorination system of the water in each health care facility targeted for WASH interventions, in compliance with the Sphere Standards and following WHO guidance. Each WASH intervention includes a water quality evaluation before the installation of the chlorination system and every three months after the installation, in coordination with certified laboratories.
• Establish an early warning system for disease outbreaks and ensure sufficient basic medication and medical supplies for treating people between visits to the Mobile Health Team (MHT).

Livelihoods and economic recovery are priority areas to ensure community stabilization in Venezuela. According to DTM, the lack of income and opportunities was a key factor in migration in 2023. IOM promotes a dignified and sustainable reintegration for individuals and the most vulnerable communities. Activities are:

• Roll out of livelihood projects in urban and rural areas, with a particular emphasis on returnees and indigenous communities to facilitate the reintegration process and provide more sustainable income sources. 
• Link protection actions with community livelihood activities.
• Implement a community-based participatory approach to identify areas of entrepreneurship and economic recovery activities based on the context, market demands, and feasibility.
• Facilitate technical skills training on basic financial literacy, economic management of small businesses, business plans, and basic accounting.
• Provide seed capital, equipment and supplies to start up the activities.
• In the case of the communities of Amazonas and Bolivar, in conditions of high risk of protection due to mining activity, implement livelihood projects to act as a mechanism for protection, risk mitigation, and self-sustainability.
• Promote the private sector's participation in reintegration and economic recovery initiatives. 
• Establish tailored monitoring plans.
• Generate community cohesion and strengthen the organization through livelihood projects and economic recovery.

IOM Venezuela proposes community stabilization based on individual and community well-being. These interventions also contribute to community peacebuilding and social cohesion. The main activities are to:

• Improve access to MHPSS services by qualified staff in host/transit communities and vulnerable indigenous communities.
• Expand MHPSS services to foster community resilience and social cohesion and strengthen local capacities for the provision of focused, non-specialized care. 

Water is essential for the safe growth of communities, well-being, and prosperity. IOM develops complementary activities in health and WASH to improve the comprehensiveness of the response and the impact. Activities will include:

• Improve infrastructure, water storage, and distribution systems at the community level, guaranteeing access to safe water and the availability of water resources for consumption and productive activities according to standards.
• Enhance access to safe water, hygiene, and sanitation services and improved WASH infrastructure in health care centres.
• Expand the delivery strategy of family filters and tanks as a medium long-term solution to guarantee access to safe water.
• Train communities in water quality measurement routines.
• Improve plans and better knowledge of good hygiene practices as part of the comprehensive community health strategy.
• Promote training and education for managing waste, black and gray water.
• Advocate with local water and sanitation service providers and authorities for network maintenance.

Considering the natural hazards in Venezuela, there is a need to improve key stakeholders’ understanding of risks/threats, and to develop climate change adaptation strategies to reduce the adverse effects and mitigate impacts of disasters. In that line, IOM will:

• Improve the understanding and awareness of local communities and authorities on climate risks.
• Implement mitigation measures in the fields of health, CCCM, and WASH to reduce risks in disaster-prone communities.  
• Conduct multi-hazard risk assessments in locations prone to be affected by disasters due to natural hazards to inform response and policy.
• Continue to build the capacity of the national and local government on DRR, and displacement management including site planning, tracking and analysing displacement in close coordination with CCCM and DTM.