Joint statement on Sending Humanitarian Aid to Venezuela

Bogota, 7th of February 2019

RE: Sending Humanitarian Aid to Venezuela

The Humanitarian INGO Forum in Colombia calls on all States to maintain the humanitarian character of aid in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, restore and protect human rights, and preserve the human dignity of persons who are victims of conflicts, complex crises and/or natural disasters. In this context, the Forum would like to express its concerns about the methods through which humanitarian aid is planned to be sent from Colombia to Venezuela.

Therefore, we would like to remind concerned parties of the situation in Venezuela that:

• Humanitarian actors work in adherence to the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
• We remind interested parties that any potential political use of humanitarian aid can generate risks, in particular for those the aid is intended to support, if this use is not based on technical and objective criteria.
• The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness establishes global commitments for donor and recipient states in order to improve the delivery and management of aid, with the aim of making it more efficient and transparent.
• We invoke Resolution 71/129 of the UN General Assembly of December 8, 2016, on the safety of humanitarian workers, which reminds us that states should not regulate their work.
• Humanitarian aid must contribute to the maintaining of peace, and the civil (not military) character of humanitarian aid must be protected.

We call on all concerned parties to: avoid any action that may cause harm; to focus aid on the needs of persons in situations of vulnerability and suffering; and to contribute to the stability and maintenance of peace.