The combined effects of climate change, conflict and COVID-19 have caused huge increases in world hunger. The places most affected by increased prices are countries that import more food than they grow, which are mostly low-income countries in the Horn of Africa region, as well as Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria.

The impact of these converging issues is disproportionately felt by women and girls, who make up 60 percent of acutely food insecure people globally. When women don’t have the nutrition they need, the impacts can be devastating, including increased maternal and infant mortality. Food insecurity also puts women and girls at increased risk of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and child marriage.

As well as responding to the critical needs emerging from the ongoing war in Ukraine, PWS&D is actively providing food assistance in a number of countries that are extremely vulnerable to food insecurity and famine, including Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Somalia, South Sudan and Ethiopia.