ACT’s General Secretary, Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, is on a trip to meet with ACT members in Colombia and Venezuela between August 30 and September 4, 2026.
ACT members working in both countries have been responding to the series of major earthquakes that struck over the last few months, with the double earthquake in Venezuela devastating areas from Caracas to La Guaira and beyond, and then a few weeks later a quake causing significant damage in the Chocó area in Colombia.
The international members of ACT responding to both these disasters are typically operating bi-national offices based in Bogota, meaning their staff and resources have been stretched by the double disaster. National ACT members in Colombia have also been responding to the earthquake in their country.
“The response in Colombia and Venezuela shows the importance of collaboration across ACT Alliance. In this case, much of the humanitarian response is being carried out by our international members, many of whom are working across both countries and are having to respond to two major emergencies at the same time,” says Bueno de Faria. “Through the ACT Humanitarian Mechanism, we can help connect their operational capacity with national members, churches and local partners, strengthening coordination, local knowledge and accountability to affected communities.”
Through the ACT Humanitarian Mechanism, we can help connect their operational capacity with national members, churches and local partners, strengthening coordination, local knowledge and accountability to affected communities.
ACT members responded immediately after both earthquakes, mobilising to provide life-saving aid including food, health care, WASH, and shelter. Mental health and psychosocial support is also being provided to communities impacted by the earthquakes.
“This is a crisis on top of a crisis. Long before the earthquakes, Colombia and Venezuela were already enduring two distinct humanitarian crises, each chronic and years in the making, fed by economic hardship, weak governance, violence, and health and basic services being out of reach for millions. The earthquakes multiplied this suffering for families, and for humanitarian organizations that never stopped working, even as access narrowed and funding fell,” says Claudia Espinosa, ACT Alliance’s regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean. “ACT Alliance was in these communities long before the earthquakes. We are there today. And we will stay, for as long as it takes.”
Colombia and Venezuela were already enduring two distinct humanitarian crises, each chronic and years in the making, fed by economic hardship, weak governance, violence, and health and basic services being out of reach for millions.
Bueno de Faria will visit communities impacted by the double quake in Venezuela during his trip, as well as meeting with ACT members and ecumenical partners in both countries.
“Ecumenical cooperation allows us to bring together the operational capacity of international members with the presence, relationships and contextual knowledge of churches, national members and local partners,” says Bueno de Faria. “That combination can make the response more relevant, coordinated and sustainable, while ensuring that humanitarian action remains connected to the communities it is intended to serve.”
ACT members and partners interested in supporting the humanitarian response in Colombia and Venezuela are invited to contact the ACT Alliance Secretariat.
