Pregnant Venezuelans receive aid from UNFPA Brazil

Venezuelan Horihanny Del Valle receives kit from UNFPA in Pacaraima – Photo: UNFPA

Horihanny Del Valle is a young 16 year-old pregnant Venezuelan who left her country about a year ago and lives now in Pacaraima, a border town between Brazil and Venezuela. She only heard about the COVID-19 pandemic through some friends. “I saw people talking about and it scared me”, she recalls. In May, she and other women received more information from UNFPA Brazil on how to prevent the disease.  UNFPA Brazil also delivered Dignity Kits, containing essential items of personal hygiene such as hand sanitizer, soap, and intimate pads.

The United Nations Population Fund in Brazil is delivering a thousand Dignity Kits to migrants and refugees in Roraima, through the program of humanitarian assistance. Young and pregnant women, like Horihanny, are among the priorities of the UN agency. “At this moment, with the pandemic, many essential services to pregnant women may suffer disruptions. That’s why it’s so important that they have access to accurate information and supplies to prevent the COVID-19. These people, who are already in a situation of vulnerability, may be exposed to increased risk”, explained the representative of UNFPA Brazil, Astrid Bant.

Nayelis Totesaut, a 23-year-old,  left Venezuela nine months ago. “The situation in Venezuela was critical, nobody could buy food and  we had to leave the country to avoid starvation. Here, at least, we have the opportunity to work”, she says. A mother of two and expecting the third child, she lives with the kids in an improvised plastic tent. “Here we wash our hands with soap and that’s how we prevent anything. This kit will be very useful”.