The United Nations Development Program on Tuesday presented a post-disaster needs assessment estimating Venezuela requires up to $21 billion to recover from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that struck the country on June 24. The recovery figure includes measures to “build back better, ensure resilience and reduce risk conditions,” the program said in a post on X.
The assessment was led by the Venezuelan government and conducted with the United Nations, European Union and World Bank. It placed the earthquakes’ damage and losses at an estimated $14.8 billion across seven affected states. The gap between the damage figure and the recovery total reflects spending on resilience and future-risk reduction that goes beyond replacing what the earthquakes destroyed.
UNDP Latin America and Caribbean regional director Michelle Muschett presented the assessment’s findings to Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez at government headquarters in Caracas, local newspaper Últimas Noticias reported. Rodríguez said the report represents “a real assessment of Venezuela’s post-earthquake needs” and reflects the costs required for the country’s recovery.
The assessment examined the earthquakes’ impact across social, productive and infrastructure sectors as well as cross-cutting issues. The two earthquakes left thousands of people homeless and damaged infrastructure across central Venezuela. More than 11,000 homes sustained severe damage and about 14,000 suffered moderate damage, the assessment found.
After the earthquakes, the Venezuelan government requested UNDP assistance to develop housing programs for the thousands who lost their homes. According to the latest official death toll released Aug. 24 by Rodríguez’s government, the earthquakes killed more than 6,500 people.