‘Women do not stop giving birth in an emergency’ – one month after Venezuela quakes
24 July 2026
WomenOne month after twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, thousands of women and girls continue to face difficulty in accessing essential healthcare and protection services, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
Paula Narvaez, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, briefed journalists in New York on her recent visit to the country. Speaking from Chile, she said the earthquakes left more than 5,000 people dead and displaced over 23,000, “but statistics alone cannot capture the human toll and true scale of this tragedy.” Women on the frontlines Ms. Narvaez visited some of the hardest-hit areas, including La Guaira, where she met families who lost everything yet are still determined to rebuild their lives. “I witnessed something that recurs in every emergency: women organizing safe spaces for their families, and caring for others, and frontline responders working tirelessly despite also being personally impacted,” she said. But amid the resilience, needs remain high. Damage to health facilities, shortages of medicines and equipment, lack of staff, and disruptions to basic services are hampering healthcare, particularly provision of reproductive health services and emergency obstetric care.
