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	Global report on food crises 2017 by FAO, WFP, Unicef, Fewsnet, ECHO, agencies   31 Mar. 2017   Globally, 108 million people in 2016 were reported to be facing Crisis level food insecurity or worse (IPC Phase 3 and above). This represents a 35 percent increase compared to 2015 when the figure was almost 80 million.   The acute and wide-reaching effects of conflicts left significant numbers of food insecure people in need of urgent assistance in Yemen (17 million); Syria (7.0 million); South Sudan (4.9 million); Somalia (2.9 million); northeast Nigeria (4.7 million), Burundi (2.3 million) and Central African Republic (2 million).   The immediate outlook points to worsening conditions in some locations, with risk of famine in isolated areas of northeast Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.   Conflict causes widespread displacement (internal and external), protracting food insecurity and placing a burden on host communities.   The populations worst affected are those of Syria (6.3 million Internally Displaced People) and Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries (4.8 million); Iraq (3.1 million); Yemen (3.2 million), South Sudan (3 million), Somalia (2.1 million) and northeast Nigeria (2.1 million).   In some countries, food security has been undermined by El Niño, which largely manifested in drought conditions that damaged agricultural livelihoods. The countries most affected are in eastern and southern Africa and include Somalia, Ethiopia (9.7 million), Madagascar (0.8 million in the Grand Sud), Malawi (6.7 million), Mozambique (1.9 million) and Zimbabwe (4.1 million).   Projections for early 2017 indicate an increase in the severity of food insecurity in these regions. This is particularly the case in southern and south-eastern Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.   Record staple food prices, notably in some southern African countries, Nigeria and South Sudan, also severely constrained food access for vulnerable populations, acutely aggravating food insecurity and the risk of malnutrition.   El Niño-induced weather patterns and conflicts were the main drivers of intensified food insecurity in 2016. The persistent nature of these drivers, and their associated impacts, has weakened households’ capacity to cope, undermining their resilience and ability to recover from future shocks.   The food crises in 2016 were both widespread and severe, affecting entire national populations, such as in Yemen, or causing acute damage in localized areas, such as in northeast Nigeria. These shocks were not bound by national borders and the spillover effects had a significant impact on neighbouring countries.   The 108 million people reported to be facing severe food insecurity in 2016 represent those suffering from higher-than-usual acute malnutrition and a broad lack of minimally adequate food even with external assistance. This includes households that can cope with their minimum food needs only by depleting seeds, livestock and agricultural assets needed to produce food in the future. Without robust and sustained action, people struggling with severe food insecurity risk slipping into an even worse situation and eventual starvation.   “The numbers tell a deeply worrying story with more than 100 million people severely food-insecure, a level of suffering which is driven by conflict and climate change. Hunger exacerbates crisis, creating ever greater instability and insecurity. What is a food security challenge today becomes tomorrow’s security challenge,” said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. “It is a race against time – the world must act now to save the lives and livelihoods of the millions at the brink of starvation.”   http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/108-million-people-world-face-severe-food-insecuritysituation-worsening   * Access the report: http://bit.ly/2nU16RD
	Tens of millions of children out of school in conflict zones by UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait   24 April 2017   More than 25 million children between 6 and 15 years old, or 22 per cent of children in that age group, are missing out on school in conflict zones across 22 countries, UNICEF said today.   “At no time is education more important than in times of war,” said UNICEF Chief of Education Josephine Bourne. “Without education, how will children reach their full potential and contribute to the future and stability of their families, communities and economies?”   At the primary school level, South Sudan has the highest rate of out-of-school children with close to 72 per cent of children missing out on education. It is followed by Chad (50 per cent) and Afghanistan (46 per cent). The three countries also have the highest rate of girls who are out of school, at 76 per cent for South Sudan, 55 per cent for Afghanistan, and 53 per cent for Chad.   At the lower-secondary school level, the highest rates of out-of-school children are found in Niger (68 per cent), South Sudan (60 per cent) and the Central African Republic (55 per cent). Out-of-school rates for girls spike for this age group, with nearly three quarters of girls in Niger and two in three in both Afghanistan and the Central African Republic not in school.   To help drive an increased understanding of the challenges children affected and uprooted by conflict face in accessing school, 19-year-old Syrian refugee and education activist Muzoon Almellehan, dubbed ‘the Malala of Syria’, travelled to Chad, a country where nearly three times as many girls as boys of primary-age in conflict areas are missing out on education.   Muzoon met children who are able to get an education for the first time, and community members who, like her once, are risking it all to get children into school.   “Conflict can take away your friends, your family, your livelihood, your home. It can try to strip you of your dignity, identity, pride and hope. But it can never take away your knowledge,” said Muzoon. “Meeting children in Chad who had fled Boko Haram reminded me of my own experiences in Syria. Education gave me the strength to carry on. I wouldn’t be here without it.”   When Muzoon was forced to flee unspeakable violence in Syria four years ago, her school books were the only belongings she took with her. She spent nearly three years in Jordan, including 18 months in Za’atari refugee camp, where she made it her personal miss ion to get more girls into education. She went from tent to tent talking to parents to encourage them to get their children into school and learning.   Like Muzoon, who fled violence in Syria to Jordan, 4,400 children have fled Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria to Chad. Unlike her, many of them remain out of school – and therefore risk abuse, exploitation and recruitment by armed forces and groups. Around 90 per cent of children arriving into Chad from Nigeria have never been to school.   UNICEF works in conflict-affected countries to get children back to learning, by providing catch-up education and informal learning opportunities, training teachers, rehabilitating schools and distributing school furniture and supplies.   In response to the education crisis in Chad, UNICEF has so far this year provided school supplies to more than 58,000 students, distributed teaching materials to more than 760 teachers, and built 151 classrooms, 101 temporary learning spaces, 52 latrines and 7 sports fields. UNICEF Chad also supported the salaries of 327 teachers for the 2016-2017 school year.   A USD $10 million allocation from Education Cannot Wait, a fund launched during the World Humanitarian Summit held in May 2016, will assist in providing quality education for children who have been displaced and those living in host communities in Chad.   Despite these efforts, funding shortfalls are affecting children’s access to school in the conflict-affected areas of Chad. Currently, 40 per cent of UNICEF’s 2017 education funding needs in the country have been met.   http://uni.cf/2pUFFRF http://www.educationcannotwait.org/the-situation/
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