A deadly mix of conflict, the climate crisis and COVID-19 has pushed millions of people to the very edge of starvation. UN reports indicate that 22.4 million people in East Africa are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance due to food insecurity, with 2.4 million classified as being in emergency and nearly half a million people in famine-like conditions. Of critical concern are the estimated 5.5 million vulnerable children experiencing high levels of malnutrition. Time is running out.
Conflict is the biggest driver of hunger in the world - every country where World Vision operates in East Africa is currently either in conflict or neighboring a country in conflict. Those that were dealing with other crises such as flooding, drought and desert locust infestations before the COVID-19 pandemic remain at the greatest risk of famine, as things worsen. The impact on the region is acute.
World Vision intends to target 7.1 million people, including 3.4 million children, across the affected countries to protect children and their communities from the devastating effects of hunger and starvation. This is consistent with our imperative to respond to those in need and to go deeper in our calling to serve. To date, we have reached almost 5.5 million people through our response, of whom 3 million are children.
World Vision has a $92 million global response reaching 2.2 million people in South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, with life-saving emergency food assistance, water, and health care. Additionally supporting farmers with seeds, vaccinating cattle, water solutions, and fishing nets will help farmers feed their families and provide additional food for their communities.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
