Empowering Local Voices: Venezuela Advances Towards Locally-Led Nutrition Coordination

In perfect alignment with the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) vision of "A world free from malnutrition through locally-led action", Venezuela recently hosted two highly successful Nutrition Cluster Coordination training workshops. Designed as tailored replicas of the May 2024 GNC Training of Trainers (ToT) in Budapest, these sessions were carefully adapted to reflect the realities and nuances of the local context. 

Utilizing a blended training methodology, the workshops were delivered to two consecutive cohorts in May 2026. A total of 50 nutrition professionals,100% of whom are Venezuelan, completed the program. To ensure a unified foundation of knowledge, all participants successfully completed a rigorous prerequisite virtual phase on GNC Learn, dedicating a minimum of 4 hours before attending the 5-day face-to-face sessions.

The demographics of this cohort highlight a powerful commitment to inclusive, community-driven humanitarian response, directly supporting the GNC's goal to ensure people have the skills and capacity to deliver quality nutrition responses: 

• A women-led effort: An impressive 88% of the participants were women, championing the GNC's strategic priority to elevate women-led influence in coordination spaces.
• Youthful energy: 65% of the cohort was between 26 and 40 years old, bringing fresh perspectives and long-term sustainability to the sector.
• Deep local representation: Accelerating the commitment to localization, 64% of participants represented local and national organizations. The remaining spaces fostered vital inter-agency collaboration, comprising UN agencies (14%), International NGOs (14%), and academia (8%, representing nutrition schools from 3 different universities). 

The profound reach and success of this decentralized collaboration would not have been possible without UNICEF. Acting in its critical role as the Cluster Lead Agency for nutrition coordination, UNICEF provided essential logistical support that allowed 42% of the participants to travel from 16 different cities across 14 states. This nationwide representation ensures that life-saving coordination tools reach the areas where they are needed most. 

By investing in the leadership and capacity of national actors, the Venezuela Nutrition Cluster is transforming how equitable, life-saving nutrition is delivered in emergencies proving that the future of humanitarian action is, unequivocally, local.