Over 40 delegations – representatives of Latin American and Caribbean states, donor states, international financial institutions, and representatives of civil society and the private sector – participated in the high-level donor event organised by the Government of the Kingdom of Spain and the European Union in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The participants were addressed by the organisers, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Spain Gonzales, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission Borrell, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Grandi, IOM Director General Vitorino, UN Secretary-General Guterres, the Presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain.

State Secretary Kajzer expressed Slovenia’s concern about the grave humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last five years, around 5.1 million people have left Venezuela due to the political, economic, social, and humanitarian crisis, with 4.3 million of them currently displaced in the Latin American and Caribbean region, making this the second most acute displacement crisis in the world after Syria. The majority of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region have not regulated their status. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, this population has become even more vulnerable, and the need for financial and material resources for tackling the Venezuelan refugee problem even more pressing.

With its humanitarian contribution through the ICRC, Slovenia added to its efforts from 2019, when it allocated EUR 50,000 through the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management to Venezuela to assist its health sector.

Slovenia also devotes special attention and assistance to Venezuelan citizens of Slovenian origin. In the past two years, the Government Office for Slovenians Abroad has allocated humanitarian assistance and participated in organising a donation of a large quantity of medicines for Venezuelans of Slovenian descent.