What role do the career aspirations of girls play in Venezuela, a country facing a humanitarian crisis and now affected by a natural disaster?
Article written by Inspiring Girls Venezuela Chair, Meily Chang.
As I write this, there are hundreds of Venezuelan girls and teenagers camping out in temporary shelters with their families; many of them are in foster care, whilst others have been left orphaned after losing every member of their family. Some teenage girls, survivors of the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on the 24 June, are still searching for their relatives amongst the rubble, whilst others are in various hospitals, recovering from the operations they had to undergo. All of them are facing a new reality.
The Earthquakes
The earthquakes in Venezuela have not only caused a human tragedy of a scale that is still difficult to quantify; they have also exacerbated structural difficulties that were already affecting the country. What do I mean by this? A worsening deterioration in the education sector and a widening gender gap.
Today, the career aspirations of these Venezuelan girls and teenagers have been sidelined and put on hold by the urgent need to meet immediate necessities arising from the earthquakes. This is where the problem that almost no one sees begins: the pre-existing education crisis, compounded by the earthquake disaster, may silently limit and render invisible the career aspirations of talented young women, who will be needed to support the country’s recovery both now and in the future.
Whilst even before the disaster a significant proportion of young people were already dropping out of school due to financial pressures or family circumstances, the collapse of educational infrastructure – as well as the use of schools that now serve as shelters and temporary centres in the wake of the earthquake – threatens to increase this dropout rate.
The Career Aspirations of girls in Venezuela
The career aspirations of girls and young women in the Venezuelan context have rarely been part of the conversation, and we have observed this over the six years we have been operating through Inspiring Girls Venezuela, with our programmes delivered in schools, communities and businesses. Today, in the face of the impact of the earthquakes and the cumulative crisis, raising awareness of and protecting these aspirations can no longer be left unaddressed. Our organisation has much to contribute, but we cannot do this alone; we need support.
A couple of months ago, it was reported in Venezuela that 1.2 million children and teenagers are excluded from the education system; the figures come from the National Survey on Living Conditions (ENCOVI) for the year 2025, carried out by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IIES) at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB). Similarly, the study reveals that the excluded adolescents mainly cited a lack of interest, work commitments and motherhood/household responsibilities as the reasons for not wishing to continue their studies.
A girl in Venezuela looks at her Career Board as she aspires to be a Doctor.
After the Eathquake
It is here that the disaster compels us to focus not only on the urgent action at hand but also to consider how to proceed during the post-earthquake recovery phases, which must include the protection of girls’ and adolescents’ education and career aspirations as a strategy for the country’s transformation, development and progress.
If the earthquake has taught us one thing with relentless clarity, it is that whilst we cannot prevent a natural disaster, we can prepare ourselves so as not to have to improvise our response. This situation has also highlighted the urgent need to spark an interest in future generations in professions that enable them to contribute technical knowledge and talent with a sense of vocation in areas key to the country’s development, such as: engineering, geography, geology, medicine, architecture, sociology and law, amongst other professions that save lives and will help ensure a better future.
Our work to support girls in Venezuela
Against this backdrop, the work of Inspiring Girls Venezuela takes on significant strategic importance, as our efforts through the ‘Back to School’ and ‘Leadership and Enterprise’ programmes focus on fostering curiosity in girls and teenagers so that they can explore their talents, discover the different professions they might aspire to in the future through contact with female role models and, above all, feel motivated to achieve their personal and professional goals, even in the face of the most difficult challenges and circumstances they may be facing in their lives.
The value added by Inspiring Girls Venezuela goes beyond mere inspiration for personal motivation. Our work makes a vital contribution at a critical juncture when it is essential to protect and keep on the agenda the career aspirations of girls and teenagers, who will be the professional women of the future.
Supporting, nurturing and ensuring that every girl sets her sights on her goals cannot be a secondary priority on the current humanitarian agenda. Instilling a sense of purpose in them, supporting them to develop and see themselves as the professionals who will design, build and help to improve Venezuela, is the country’s most powerful strategy for development, transformation and the promotion of gender equality.
Girls in Venezuela meet a role model, a doctor, as she shares her career.
About Meily Chang
Meily Chang is the president and director of Inspiring Girls Venezuela. In 2023, she won the Chair of the Year award from Inspiring Girls International. She holds a degree in political science and works as a political analyst and consultant on projects monitoring humanitarian aid.
Support our work
If you believe in what we are building, or know someone who might, we would love to hear from you. Reach out directly to venezuela@inspiring-girls.com or find out more about our work at https://www.instagram.com/inspiringirlsve/