East Africa Children's Crisis - September 2018 Situation Report

• Humanitarian needs: At least 28 million people (more than half of them children) are in need of humanitarian assistance. Conflict, disease, acute food shortages, high inflation, and inadequate nutrition have left children and their families extremely vulnerable.

• Conflict a major driver of forced displacements: Conflict continues to be a major factor driving people out of their homes. As the Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for elections in December, neighbouring countries such as Burundi and Uganda are on high alert for an influx of refugees. This therefore means that the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance will likely increase.

• Food insecurity: At least 20 million are struggling to meet their daily food and nutrition needs this is due to a combination of factors such as poor crop yields, failed harvests, and high cost of commodities. Conflict is also a major driver of food insecurity, as people flee their homes, they leave their lands unattended to or their farm lands are destroyed. This disrupts their source of livelihoods and the only alternative is humanitarian aid.

• Sustained funding: A combination of disasters have disrupted livelihoods opportunities for millions of families. While emergency humanitarian assistance is critical in saving lives, World Vision’s priority is to help these families not only recover from disasters but also rebuild their livelihoods. World Vision is therefore calling on donors to prioritise funding for recovery and long-term initiatives to enable people affected by disasters have access to economic opportunities and become self-reliant.

For more information, read or download our September 2018 situation report.