HUNGER, HARM AND HARD CHOICES:
The cost of the humanitarian funding crisis to children
Faced with rising needs and crashing funding, World Vision’s follow up report to 2024’s “Ration Cuts: Taking from the hungry to feed the starving” exposes a global hunger crisis out of control, while funding for humanitarian aid dwindles.
Almost 300 million people went hungry last year – and for the sixth year in a row, the number increased. This year, together with the World Food Programme (WFP), we explored the impact of reduced food assistance on vulnerable communities with a focus on food insecurity, education, child protection, and physical and mental health.
As always, the most vulnerable are the first to suffer and the ones who suffer the most. This is not just a humanitarian emergency - it is a generational catastrophe in the making. Without immediate global action, the rich potential of these children and families will be lost, as programmes are shut down and families turn to increasingly extreme measures to survive.
Read the full report here, or keep scrolling for top takeaways and recommended actions.
“
How should we overcome this difficult situation? What should we do to survive? How should we care for the children? Every night, I can't sleep because I keep thinking about it.
We've been in the camp for a long time, and the support has decreased a lot. Now, it's only what WFP provides, and nothing else comes anymore. It's frustrating.
We are worried about our future. Some people have even gone mad because of the stress. This is what we are going through. We can no longer engage in social activities, and we are isolated from relatives. Right now, everyone is scared. It has become more difficult.
Now, with the conflict starting again, we have to run away, which is why we are even more stressed. When I’m on my own, I tend to overthink.
My mind isn’t at ease, and I can easily become frustrated or lose my temper. There are things that make me scared. I am constantly worried all the time.
- ADULT, FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT, MYANMAR
A GROWING HUNGER CRISIS
FOOD INSECURITY FINDINGS
The clearest and most alarming result in the study was the high levels of food insecurity across all the different humanitarian responses. More than than half (58%) of families had at least one household member go to sleep hungry in the last four weeks.
% families who said they or any household member had gone a whole day and night without eating anything because there was not enough food in the past month
“Can't sleep at night because I keep thinking about what will happen next, how difficult it will be, and how I have to survive… We are worried about what we have to eat for tomorrow. When cash support are in hand, we still think about how we should spend to cover stable food for my families. I can’t stop worrying about the distribution process – like what should we do if there is no cash distribution. We always pray not to stop cash supports program.”
- ADULT, FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT, MYANMAR
DISPLACEMENT
As of April 2024, over 120 million people were forcibly displaced due to conflict, persecution and/or human rights violations.
This figure has more than doubled over the past decade and is projected to rise to 139.3 million by the end of 2025. While no one is escaping the hunger crisis, displaced households are three times more likely to be food insecure.
% countries with moderate to severe food insecurity
Children in families experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity were
7X MORE LIKELY TO IRREGULARLY ATTEND SCHOOL
5X MORE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE INCREASED VIOLENCE AT HOME
6X MORE LIKELY TO BE FORCED TO MARRY
LOST CHILDHOODS
When food insecurity becomes a daily reality, education is often the first to suffer.
Food insecurity and reduced food assistance has led to widespread child education concerns, including children dropping out of school to work, not being able to concentrate in class, feeling tired and weak, and performing poorly.
Cash and voucher assistance and school feeding, especially as shown in contexts where it is being consistently provided to children, may offer important protective features to keep children in school and improve their performance and engagement.
However, it is also crucial that programmes focus on the most vulnerable children who are not in school – girls who got pregnant, children who need to work – to keep them from being left behind.
"I had to stop going to school because my parents couldn’t afford my books and uniform. Now, I help my mother by collecting firewood to sell so we can buy food. I wish I could go back to school."
- CHILD RESPONDENT, SOMALIA
“When there is less food at home, or the food we get at school changes, it’s really difficult for us as children. There is no food at home, we feel hungry and stressed, and sometimes it’s hard to concentrate at school. It also stresses our parents because they feel helpless, trying to figure out how to provide for us. This makes us both feel anxious and upset, as we know they’re struggling to make ends meet”.
- CHILD RESPONDENT, ETHIOPIA
“We leave school because we don’t have food. The money that was supposed to pay for our education is first used to buy food because eating comes before anything else.”
- CHILD RESPONDENT, DRC
FUNDING CRISIS
In 2024, global humanitarian funding fell by 11% compared to the previous year.
Additionally, since then, many major donors have announced significant reductions in their humanitarian programming, leading to critical shortfalls in aid delivery.
Out of the total US$46 billion required to respond to humanitarian needs in 2025, just a tenth - only US$4.6 billion - has been secured as of May 2025. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) anticipates a 20% budget reduction in 2026 due to these cuts.
Years of underfunding for emergencies has also meant that humanitarian assistance keeps people alive, but is insufficient to help them build new lives and resilience and to tackle the politics and other underlying factors driving conflict, climate change and economic crises.
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IS NOT CHARITY.
It is protection. It is prevention. It is dignity.
And, as our data shows, it is the thread that holds together the fragile futures of millions of children. If we act now - boldly, generously, and wisely - we can prevent this crisis from becoming a catastrophe. If we do not, we will bear witness to the avoidable loss of a generation’s potential.
If we can give enough humanitarian assistance to address the desperate needs in many of the countries, we will be giving hope and saving thousands, if not millions of lives.
A CRISIS WE CANNOT IGNORE.
A CALL TO ACTION..
Protect and restore food assistance as a frontline intervention for child survival and well-being, especially for displaced people and host communities at the frontlines of humanitarian emergencies.
Ensure that obligations under International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and other binding legal frameworks are met and the rights of all people to food and humanitarian assistance are upheld.
Expand quality funding and sustainable investments in food security to address current needs and strengthen food systems for long-term prevention of hunger.
Listen to, and act on, the insights that community members voice. Prioritize interventions based on the stated priorities of the people impacted by crises and ration cuts.
Invest in resilience, not just relief — including regenerative agriculture, skills training, revenue-generating activities, and accessible cash transfer systems.
Foster innovation in food assistance interventions to effectively address the evolving needs of vulnerable communities.
Integrate food assistance with longer-term programming: education, livelihoods, mental health and child protection must be addressed together.
Prioritise displaced and marginalised communities in food security programming, especially people with disabilities, the elderly, and households led by women and children.
Maintain and expand school meals, a proven safeguard for learning, nutrition, and protection.
Continue to invest in strategic and operational partnerships and inter-agency collaboration to leverage the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors involved in food assistance interventions.
Reconsider the costs of food assistance reductions, not just for children’s nutrition, but also for their mental health, education, safety, and ability to enjoy a childhood free from violence.
READ THE FULL REPORT
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