Due to their inherently greater nutritional needs, children under 5 years of age, especially those under 2 years of age, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescent girls are at greater risk of malnutrition, disease and death in emergency situations. The underlying causes of malnutrition – such as lack of access to health services, precarious WASH conditions, and food insecurity – are aggravated for refugees and migrants from Venezuela, especially along the transit. These factors can exacerbate the immediate causes of malnutrition, namely, compromised dietary and nutrient intake and increased risk of infectious diseases, which, in turn, prevent the specific nutrient needs of vulnerable groups from being fulfilled and/ or interfere with the correct absorption of nutrients, overall leading to malnutrition.

The nutrition situation is usually associated with poverty, poor maternal health and nutrition, frequent illness and/or inappropriate feeding and care in early life. In human mobility contexts, pregnant and lactating women require nutrition counselling and micronutrient supplementation to support their increased nutrient needs and prevent anemia and/or other forms of malnutrition. Caregivers of children under 2 require infant and young child feeding support, such as feeding infants under 6 months exclusively with breastmilk or replacement milk and feeding young children solids. Children between 6 and 59 months old require micronutrient supplementation to fortify their food with vitamins and minerals and prevent micronutrient deficiencies, or energy-protein supplementation to prevent malnutrition in children in transit. Children under 5 years of age with acute malnutrition need timely identification, treatment and follow-up until recovery.

The Nutrition Sector responds to the needs of the population groups most vulnerable to malnutrition: children under 5 years of age especially children under 2, adolescents (particularly girls) and pregnant and lactating women who are at heightened risk of malnutrition or who are already facing malnutrition in countries affected by mixed movements of refugees and migrants. 

The Nutrition Sector focuses on three response priorities: 

1. Ensuring access to nutrition services/interventions by qualified and trained personnel: Nutrition Sector partners identify and address the most pressing nutrition needs of vulnerable populations through nutrition interventions to prevent, identify and treat malnutrition (acute malnutrition, stunting and micronutrient deficiencies, such as anemia). R4V Nutrition partners identify vulnerable refugees and migrants most at-risk of malnutrition, as well as those in affected host communities, to ensure they receive adequate nutritional care. Activities include: 

• Nutrition counselling and micronutrient supplementation for pregnant and lactating women to support their nutritional needs and prevent anemia and/or other forms of malnutrition. A special focus is given to pregnant adolescents, who have very high nutrient requirements and deficiencies that can lead to early cessation of growth and increased risks for newborns. 

• Infant and young child feeding counseling and support sessions is provided to caregivers of children under 2. Topics include feeding infants exclusively with breastmilk or replacement milk and feeding solids to children 6-23 months. 

• Micronutrient supplementation in children 6-59 months to fortify children’s food with vitamins and minerals to prevent micronutrient deficiencies, as well as energy-protein supplementation to prevent malnutrition in children in-transit. 

• Timely identification, referral treatment and follow-up until recovery of children under 5 with acute malnutrition. 

2. Understanding and assessing the nutrition situation of vulnerable groups: The Sector supports nutrition assessments among vulnerable groups to understand the nutrition situation of refugee and migrant settings, nutrition risks, and sectoral needs. The inclusion of other vulnerable groups, such as children 5-9 years old, adolescents (10-19 years) or older people (women and men over 65 years), is encouraged in the assessments, to have broader understanding of nutrition risks and needs. 

3. Advocating for stronger prioritization of nutrition interventions as life-saving interventions for refugees and migrants from Venezuela: The Nutrition Sector works on strengthening its communication and advocacy on the nutrition risks and needs of vulnerable groups and the importance and life-saving impact of nutrition interventions, which is often not visible or understood. 

The capacity at the country level to provide essential nutrition services varies greatly across the 10 countries with a nutrition response. Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago.