The Middle East and Eastern Europe region faces some of the world’s most complex and long-lasting humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and economic decline. Despite insecurity, limited funding, and access challenges, World Vision has sustained and expanded its humanitarian response in the region for over 50 years.

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.

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.

World Vision supports pregnant women in the West Bank as giving birth safely is met with significant barriers, such as checkpoints and the risks of violence.

The current escalation follows prolonged instability and military activity despite the 27 November 2024 cessation of hostilities. Since the ceasefire came into effect, more than 10,000 air and ground violations have been recorded, resulting in at least 335 people killed and 973 injured as of 5 January 2026. Reported incidents have included airspace incursions, cross-border fire, and military activity in Baalbek, Hermel, and southern areas, alongside the continued presence of foreign military forces in five border villages. Prior to the renewed escalation in March 2026, an estimated 62,000 to 90,000 people remained internally displaced from earlier conflicts, underscoring the protracted nature of the crisis and the heightened humanitarian vulnerability across affected regions. Over the weekend, regional tensions escalated following developments involving the United States and Iran, with hostilities expanding into the country to the south of Lebanon and Lebanon on 2nd of March. Airstrikes were reported across multiple areas, including the southern suburbs of Beirut, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, and South Lebanon. According to Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Unit sources, an estimated more than 81,791 internally displaced persons (IDPs) including 9,000 children, have been recorded thus far, primarily in Beirut & Mount Lebanon (BML), Bekaa, Baalbek, and southern governorates. So far, over 60 people have been reported killed and at least 154 injured, with figures continuing to evolve. Warnings have been issued to evacuate over 200 towns across Lebanon, contributing to significant population movement from border areas and high-risk locations, while shelter data remains fluid due to continued secondary displacement and movement between collective sites.

Juma Ignatius, Senior Policy Advisor, Climate Action and Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Management, brings our attention to the recent Mozambique floods that are often framed as natural disasters, but in reality, it is a story of global inequality, climate inaction and decades of neglect paid for by children who did nothing to cause the crisis. As emergency aid is repeated and preparedness is ignored, based on the negotiations within the UNFCCC spaces, Juma argues that without a shift to Disaster Risk Reduction, Anticipatory Action and climate-resilient development, disasters will continue to steal childhoods.

This article highlights the severe flooding that struck Fungurume in Lualaba Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 1 February 2026, affecting more than 3,200 people. Occurring in the midst of an ongoing cholera outbreak, the disaster has created a dual emergency, increasing risks of waterborne diseases, malaria, school disruption, and child protection concerns. With homes, schools, and health centres inundated, families face heightened vulnerability, particularly children. The article underscores the need for a rapid, coordinated, and child-centred humanitarian response focused on health, WASH, education continuity, shelter, and protection to prevent a worsening secondary crisis.

New research by World Vision and Samuel Hall reveals a growing crisis in Afghanistan. Mass deportations and lost remittances have pushed thousands into deep debt. Families now face severe food insecurity and harmful coping mechanisms. The study confirms that children suffer most in this economic downturn.