Israeli Group Distributing Aid To Venezuelan Refugees

Venezuelan migrants receive food outside a migrant shelter in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, May 1, 2019. Image by SCHNEYDER MENDOZA/AFP/Getty Images

By Marcy Oster May 22, 2019

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Israeli NGO IsraAID is distributing relief materials in Colombia to thousands of Venezuelans escaping harsh conditions in their country.

An IsraAID emergency response team is on the ground in Cucuta, on the Colombian border with Venezuela, where thousands of Venezuelans are crossing daily seeking relief from the economic and political crisis in their country, according to the organization. There are already 1.2 million Venezuelans in Columbia. IsraAid said it has committed to remain in Colombia long-term.

Working with the local community and Venezuelan refugee organizations in Colombia, the IsraAID team has distributed relief materials and conducted hygiene promotion activities in partnership with Fundacion Venezolanos en Cúcuta, an organization of locally based Venezuelans who provide support to new arrivals as they enter Colombia.

IsraAID’s response plan also includes child protection and back-to-school activities, community resilience-building and psychological support.

The NGO’s Colombia efforts are supported by the American Jewish Committee and individual donors. Donations to the Venezuelan refugee crisis response can be made through the IsraAID Emergency Response Fund.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO