The Daily Journal.- Venezuela will need an estimated US$21 billion to recover from the earthquakes that struck the country on June 24, according to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) that the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) presented Tuesday in Caracas.
The amount covers “measures to build back better, ensure resilience and reduce risk conditions,” UNDP said in a statement.
The 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes caused US$14.831 billion in damage and losses across the seven affected states, according to the assessment, which the Venezuelan government led with the participation of the United Nations, the European Union (EU) and the World Bank.
The study analyzed the earthquakes’ impact on social, productive, and infrastructure sectors, as well as other cross-cutting factors, with technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to UNDP, the findings “will serve as a basis for prioritizing interventions and developing a resilient recovery framework.”
UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Michelle Muschett presented the report to Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez during an event at Miraflores Palace.
Muschett described the document as a “first report” that aims to serve “as an important input for developing an evidence-based resilient recovery framework.”
She added that the goal also involves “connecting the priorities established by the government with financing needs and governance mechanisms.”
“The main message behind this effort is that Venezuela is not alone. The UN system is supporting the country at this time, and UNDP has been on the ground since day one, supporting these national development priorities to rebuild — and not just rebuild, but build back better,” Muschett said.
Rodríguez highlighted the participation of the Venezuelan government, the United Nations, the World Bank, CAF, the IDB and the EU in preparing the assessment, to establish “a single plan” that contains “a real diagnosis of the needs” generated by the earthquakes.
The acting president said the document “sets a course” and contains information on the costs required for recovery. However, she did not provide details on how authorities would allocate the resources.
The Venezuelan government now plans to move forward with a resilient recovery framework that will translate the assessment’s technical findings into a strategic, operational and financial roadmap for reconstruction.
Following the earthquakes, Venezuela requested UNDP assistance to develop housing programs and support people who lost their homes.
In its latest report, published on August 24, the government recorded 14,239 homes with moderate damage and 11,001 with severe damage.
Shortly after the earthquakes, UNDP had issued a preliminary estimate of approximately US$6.7 billion in direct physical damage, which at the time represented about 6% of Venezuela’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The new assessment expands that estimate by incorporating not only the damage and losses directly caused by the disaster, but also the financial needs associated with reconstruction, risk reduction and efforts to create more resilient conditions.
With information from EFE
