Venezuela earthquakes reveal a child protection system unprepared for disaster

Global Voices reports that Venezuela's recent earthquakes have exposed a child protection system unprepared for disaster. The piece follows families searching the rubble for missing children, including thirteen-year-old twins still unaccounted for, while overwhelmed hospitals improvised by writing rescued children's names on their arms in permanent marker. UNICEF estimates three point nine million children and adolescents live in the affected areas, all entitled to special protection under Venezuelan and international law. According to the reporting, emergency measures like a nationwide protocol and a unified database for locating missing children were activated within days, but NGO assessments found fragmented coordination and no pre-established disaster response plan, leaving the response to rely heavily on improvisation.

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