Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict

Description

The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, OVCS, is a Venezuelan non-governmental organization that studies social conflict and promotes human rights in Venezuela.

It was founded in 2010 and works by monitoring, recording and reporting protests and social conflicts across the country. It is affiliated with other institutions, including the Organization of American States, the Central University of Venezuela and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, and its findings have been cited by international media such as the Associated Press, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.

The organization also joins other Venezuelan human rights groups in collective advocacy, signing joint statements and presenting documented cases of human rights violations to United Nations human rights mechanisms and independent experts. This documentation draws on data and testimonies gathered through its own monitoring work. Through this joint civil society action it has pressed for independent, impartial international scrutiny of the human rights and humanitarian situation in Venezuela.

OVCS operates within Venezuela, focusing its work on tracking social unrest and rights violations and channeling that evidence into national and international human rights advocacy.