UNICEF: Venezuelan children on the move need help

A Venezuelan migrant waits for traffic to come to a standstill so that she can ask drivers for spare change, in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, April 4, 2019. According to U.N. children's agency UNICEF, as a result of the Venezuela migrant crisis, 1.1 million children will need help across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2019. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

BOGOTA, Colombia – Across Colombia's capital, Venezuelan children spend hours at busy intersections while their migrant parents sell candy or ask motorists for a few coins to get through another day after fleeing their homeland.

The impact of Venezuela's devastating problems has rippled across Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years as more than 3 million people left the country. As is the case in emergencies around the world, it is the children who are most vulnerable.

UNICEF says in a new report that about 1.1 million children will need access to services such as education, sanitation and safe drinking water across the region this year because of the Venezuelan migrant crisis. The U.N. agency says the projected figure is more than double the number of children who need help right now.