Policy Brief | Famine Prevention & Food Security

Fatim, a mother of six, fled armed violence in Torou and now rebuilds her life in Koro. She supports her family by pounding millet, doing laundry, and selling gravel, while her husband receives medical care and her eldest son works in artisanal gold mining.

Famine is not a natural disaster and can be prevented. Across the world’s hunger hotspots, early warnings are clear, yet governments continue to act too late – or not at all. Conflict, blockades, and the denial of humanitarian access, not food scarcity, are driving a deepening hunger crisis, with children suffering first and longest. As aid budgets are cut, the gap between need and response is widening fast. This is a false economy: preventing famine costs far less than responding once lives are already lost. World Vision warns famine can be predicted and prevented – but only if leaders act early, protect civilians, and put children at the centre of hunger prevention.

This policy brief introduces the ENOUGH Campaign in East Africa and invites you to be part of a practical response rooted in bold hope to end child hunger and malnutrition. It explains the challenge clearly, highlights what is working, and sets out actions that governments, donors, businesses, civil society, communities and friends of children can take together. The goal is simple and urgent: to make sure every child has ENOUGH of the right food to grow well, learn in school and thrive.

According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), attacks between 2 and 8 March have resulted in 394 people killed and 1,130 injured, with figures Increasing daily. Displacement orders issued in the last days, including renewed orders affecting areas south of the Litani River and the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs, have triggered further population movements and repeated displacement for many households. As of 8 March, the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Unit reports 117,228 displaced individuals residing in 538 collective shelters. The Government of Lebanon has launched a national self-registration platform for internally displaced persons, with over 517,000 people, indicating the potential scale of displacement beyond those recorded in collective shelters. Recent days have seen hostilities expand beyond traditional frontline areas, including blanket evacuation orders affecting Beirut’s southern suburbs, warnings and subsequent strikes targeting branches of the Al-Qard- Al-Hassan Association. Airstrikes have also impacted locations outside the declared warning zones, including a hotel in central Beirut and an earlier strike on a hotel in Hazmieh, both situated outside the primary red-zone areas. These incidents highlight the widening geographic scope of the conflict and the continued risks to civilians and humanitarian operations across areas.

In the heart of Manyinga District, where the North-Western Province’s terrain transitions from thick forest to unforgiving, sandy trails, the distant roar of a motorcycle isn’t just noise. To the children of these remote villages, it is the sound of hope arriving.

This year, we continued to empower vulnerable children, youth, and families, witnessing how they thrive with education, protection, and community support,

World Vision Mali’s 2025 Annual Report highlights key achievements improving children’s lives through education, WASH, nutrition and humanitarian assistance.

Four years into the war in Ukraine, children remain at the centre of a deepening protection crisis. Today, one in three children in Ukraine requires humanitarian assistance, as sustained exposure to violence, displacement, family separation and the erosion of essential services continue to shape their daily lives.

More than 20 days after being displaced from her home, Filomena, a mother of five, shares the solutions she believes are essential to rebuild her life and strengthen her resilience to climate shocks.