Millions of displaced families across eastern Africa will fall deeper into hunger as food rations dwindle due to humanitarian resources being stretched to the limit as the world grapples with a toxic cocktail of conflict, climate shocks, and COVID-19, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that spiralling costs of food and fuel were adding to the toxic mix.
🚨 #NEWS ALERT 🚨
The number of #refugees in eastern Africa has tripled in the last decade to almost 5 million.
But funding gaps has forced @WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food and who goes without.
Full Release 👉 https://t.co/366QlfLowm@Refugees pic.twitter.com/3gdeWPfObw
— WFP Africa (@WFP_Africa) April 13, 2022
Despite efforts to make resources stretch through prioritisation schemes, the agencies are having to prioritize food assistance for the most vulnerable families, they said in a press release, while the sheer number of refugees in need of support has grown, along with the gap between resourcing and needs.
In the past decade the number of refugees in eastern Africa has nearly tripled, from 1.82 million in 2012 to almost five million today including 300,000 new refugees last year alone.
Tough choices
The growth in refugee numbers has not been matched by a growth in resources, forcing WFP to make difficult decisions about who receives food assistance and who goes without. More than 70 percent of refugees in need, do not receive a full ration due to funding shortfalls.
“Refugees and internally displaced people are at the centre of the food ration cuts, compounding a desperate situation for millions of people uprooted from their homes and often relying on aid to survive,” said Clementine Nkweta-Salami, UNHCR’s Regional Bureau Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes.
“More and more children below the age of five years are experiencing high levels of stunting and wasting, as they lack the nutrients to grow and develop.”
“Families do not know where their next meal will come from and are taking on huge debt, selling off what they can, or sending their children to work,” added the Regional Director. “The risk of domestic violence is rising. Getting people out of harm’s way and shielding them from serious protection risks also requires that their food needs are adequately addressed.”
A sharp increase in food and fuel costs and conflict-caused displacement are being compounded by a worsening climate crisis.
Severe climate shocks
Globally, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and intense, severely impacting countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan, and worsening food insecurity.
“The unfortunate reality is that eastern Africa is confronted with a year of unprecedented humanitarian needs, driven by severe climate shocks, ongoing conflict and instability, and surging food and fuel prices,” said Michael Dunford, WFP’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa.
“The growth in needs here mirrors what we see happening around the globe and we implore the world not to turn its back on this region and, in particular, the extremely vulnerable communities of refugees who have limited access to livelihoods and rely on WFP to survive.”