811 million people are hungry right now. Play Video

Hunger Crisis

10,000 children are dying every day from hunger

Right now, millions face severe hunger. Some are on the brink of famine. Decisions have to be made about who can be fed. The hunger crisis has escalated to an unprecedented level not seen this century.

Thanks to your support, Plan International are responding in many of the countries impacted by this crisis. We’re providing life-saving nutrition support, cash and voucher assistance, livelihood programs and child protection.

The Global Hunger Crisis

In late 2022, the UN advised that countries who were experiencing crisis levels of food insecurity was rapidly approaching catastrophe. 50 million people were considered to be on the brink of famine.

Conflict, climate shocks such as flooding and drought, and impacts of COVID-19 were already creating significant levels of hunger and food insecurity. Since the war in Ukraine started, things have got worse.

Stephen Omollo, Plan International’s global CEO, declared a Red Alert crisis for 8 countries we operate in (Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Haiti). That is our highest level of urgent humanitarian response.

Children too young to walk are surviving on one meal a day, or even less.

Alam, a young mother in South Sudan, fears her children will never know peace.

Alam, South Sudan

I worry a lot that my children have to go to sleep hungry. I worry that the flood water might take our home and even the school, which they may never get to go to if the conflict continues. I no longer hope to return home, that hope is slowly fading away.

More than half of South Sudan’s population are facing crisis levels of food shortages. And relief efforts are critically underfunded.

How we’re responding

Thanks to your support, in places like South Sudan we’ve mobilised our efforts to ensure those most at risk are supported:

our targeted feeding program has supported 21,545 children under the age of 5 and 12,074 pregnant and lactating women
school meals have been distributed to 73,806 children across 51 schools
135,219 people have received general food rations
our cash transfer program is assisting vulnerable households, helping them to buy food and other essentials.

In Somaliland and Somalia, together with our local partner TAAKULO, we’ve reached 44,250 people with emergency assistance, including emergency water trucking and cash assistance so families can purchase food and water and access critical services such as health and education.

From October to December 2022, 1,150 families in Mali were supported with cash transfers and non-food items.

How you can help

Join the call for urgent action from the Australian Government. Write to your local MP.

You can also help us respond to future emergencies by making a general donation.

Map showing the hungriest places on Earth as of 31 March 2022. Niger: 1.7 million people are food insecure, 45% of children between 6 months and 4 years old are Malnourished. Lebanon: 25% of the population is made up of refugees, 22% of households are food insecure.
Bangladesh: 11 million people are suffering from acute hunger, 40 million people are food insecure. Mali:
An average of 3.6 million people experience food insecurity annually, Stunting affects over 30% of children under 5.
South Sudan: 1.4 million children suffer from acute malnutrition, Nearly 2.5 million people risk famine if they don’t receive aid. Guatemala: 46.5% of children under 5 are stunted, 2/3 of the population lives on less than US$2 a day. Sierra Leone: 4.7 million people are food insecure,
66% of Sierra Leoneans cannot meet their basic food needs. Burkina Faso: More than 2.5 million are displaced to date, in the central Sahel region of West Africa, 3.3 million are suffering from extreme hunger. Somalia: 5.6 million people are food insecure, An estimated 300,000 children under 5 are malnourished. Mozambique: Over 42% of children under 5 are stunted, 80% of people cannot afford an adequate diet. Zambia: More than 1/3 of children under 5 are stunted, 48% of the population are unable to meet their basic calorie needs. — Map showing the hungriest places on Earth as of 31 March 2022. Source: World Food Program (WFP)

Our research

In August 2022, we published Running on Empty, a report that highlights the staggering and disproportionate impact of the global hunger crisis on the world’s most vulnerable groups.

The report reveals soaring rates of child marriage, heightened food insecurity among disabled communities and shocking statistics on the amount of children facing malnutrition, stunting and death.

View the interactive report

Download the full report

Latest news

Somalia: a story of survival

The ABC’s acclaimed Foreign Correspondent program, took viewers to Somalia on 23 March 2023, showing the hunger crisis that is rapidly deteriorating across the country.

Read more
Cash transfers help displaced families in Mali survive the hunger crisis

Forced to leave their home in Mali, Aissata and her five children faced many challenges, amplified by the region’s hunger crisis. Now, thanks to support from Plan International, they have hope.

Read more
Cash transfers help girls stay in school in South Sudan

Living in a community ravaged by conflict and now dealing with a protracted hunger crisis, life can be tough. But thanks to cash payments from Plan International, Alice has been able to support her family and stay in school.

Read more
Somalia on the brink

Saado, a young mother from Somaliland, is just one of an estimated 213,000 people facing severe and acute food insecurity in Somalia, a country on the brink of famine.

Read more
Running on empty

The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing climate crisis and the war in Ukraine have created the perfect storm for global hunger. Learn more about the devastating impact of the Global Hunger Crisis on children, girls and vulnerable groups.

Read more