Refugees at risk of hunger, malnutrition as relief hit in E. Africa
Sunday August 30, 2020
FILE PHOTO: Women and children stand outside temporary tents at a refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border. /UNICEF
Hard-won development gains at risk
COVID-19 restrictions closed schools in refugee camps, meaning children missed out on vital school meals in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda.
In these countries except in Rwanda, funding shortages meant that WFP was unable to provide take home rations to refugee children to help them study at home and stay nourished.
Extended school closures can also expose children to additional challenges, including, teenage pregnancies, sexual abuse, early marriage, violence at home, child labour and high school dropouts, eroding hard-won development gains made over several years.
Women and girl refugees are also at heightened risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, in addition to resorting to having sex for payment in order to survive. People with disabilities and unaccompanied or separated children are the most vulnerable, said the UN food relief agency.
World cannot let the most disadvantaged suffer
"Sadly, it is the poorest and most disadvantaged who suffer the most," said Mr. Dunford, adding, "We simply cannot let this happen. COVID-19 cannot be an excuse for the world to turn its back on refugees at this terrible time."
Given the pressing situation, WFP is appealing both to traditional donors and new would-be donors, such as international financial institutions, to step forward and assist refugees precisely because their vulnerability only increased with COVID-19.
The UN agency needs some $323 million to assist refugees in the East Africa region over the next six months, about 22 percent greater than during the same period in 2019.
(With input from World Food Programme)
Refugees at risk of hunger, malnutrition as relief hit in E. Africa
UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to reduce its food and cash assistance for refugees in Eastern Africa by up to 30 per cent, the agency has said, voicing fears that the reductions could worsen in the coming months unless urgent additiona