31 July 2026
FIGO - Dr Aparna Sridhar, Diya Shah Patel, Prof Helena Paro and Dr Margit Endle

In June 2026, two consecutive earthquakes killed at least 4,700 people and injured more than 16,000 individuals in Venezuela, exacerbating a pre-existing humanitarian crisis1. Close to 59,000 buildings are estimated to have been destroyed, and Venezuela’s already fragile infrastructure was further damaged, leaving many people displaced.2 Women’s sexual and reproductive health is expected to be further affected in the coming months, and efforts must be directed towards ensuring access to essential, life-saving health services.

After more than a decade of underfunding, health worker emigration and deteriorating public infrastructure, the current humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has struck an already fragile reproductive health system. The country’s maternal mortality ratio was estimated at 125 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017, up from 52.8 in 1997, evidencing limited access to safe abortion services – abortion is only legally permitted when a woman’s life is at risk – and the erosion of decades of progress in maternal health. UNICEF’s 2026 humanitarian appeal for Venezuela was only 35 percent funded before the earthquakes struck, and capacity on the ground has been weakened by global funding cuts to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) sector.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/blog/calling-urgent-protection-womens-sexual-and-reproductive-health-amid-humanitarian-crisis