Children are dying now. It’s getting worse by the day and children, especially girls, are suffering the most.
In the world’s hungriest countries, children too young to walk are surviving on one meal a day, sometimes less. Entire classrooms are empty because students are too hungry to go to school, while some families don’t know what or when they’ll eat next.
Girls are often the first to be taken out of school, and the last to eat when food runs low. In some of the world’s worst hunger hotspots, there have even been reports of families resorting to early and forced child marriage for their daughters, simply to survive. Hunger also places girls at risk of child labour, gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and unwanted pregnancy.
From South Sudan to Haiti, Plan International is present in many of the countries most affected by this global food crisis. We are rapidly scaling up programmes such as nutrition support, cash and voucher assistance, food distributions, child protection, school meal programmes and livelihoods support.
Unless action is taken now, more lives will be lost and the devastating effects on the lives of children, especially girls, will be felt for decades to come.
Related pages
Global food crisis
Understand what is driving up hunger across the world, and what can be done to tackle the threat to children
Real Choices Real Lives: Climate Change and Girls' Education (2023)
Learn from girls directly about their experiences of climate change, how it affects their education, and their recommendations for mitigation and adaptation.
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