Hunger, Harm and Hard Choices: The hidden toll of humanitarian cuts on displaced children

Amid deepening humanitarian funding shortfalls, a new multi-country report reveals a devastating surge in hunger, child labour, early marriage, school dropouts, and child trafficking among crisis-affected populations, particularly those already displaced by conflict, disaster, or climate shocks.

The report, titled “Hunger, Harm, and Hard Choices: The Cost of the Humanitarian Funding Crisis for Children,” by World Vision draws from research conducted between January and April 2025 across 13 countries.

It surveyed over 5,000 refugee, internally displaced, and host community households and presents an alarming picture of collapsing safety nets for children.

At the heart of the findings is an escalating food crisis.

58% of all surveyed households reported going to bed hungry, while 44% said someone in their household had gone an entire day and night without eating anything.

In South Sudan, the situation was dire—97% of households reported that someone had gone 24 hours without food in the past month.

A Humanitarian Catastrophe

“This is a humanitarian catastrophe hiding in plain sight,” said Amanda Rives, Senior Director of Disaster Management at World Vision International.

“These are families who have lost everything to conflict or disaster. Now we’re taking away the one thing they had left: life-saving food assistance. It’s unconscionable.”

Families who had their food rations reduced were found to be 5.4 times more likely to face moderate or severe food insecurity than those who had not experienced such cuts.

In country after country, food assistance was not only a critical lifeline—it was often the only buffer keeping families from starvation and harmful survival strategies.

The report highlights how humanitarian funding cuts are not occurring in isolation.

They are converging with economic shocks, conflict, and climate disasters to create a multi-dimensional crisis.

86% of respondents cited economic hardship, 75% reported being affected by climate-related events such as droughts or floods, and 54% pointed to conflict or violence as key drivers of their current situation.

The Cost to Children

As food becomes scarce, children are being pulled deeper into crisis.

The report makes clear that hunger is not only a nutrition issue—it is a child protection emergency.

Children living in food-insecure households were:

• 8 times more likely to be involved in child labour,
• 9.3 times more likely to be forced to beg,
• 5.8 times more likely to be married early,
• and 4.7 times more likely to be exposed to violence.

The risks are particularly high in countries with prolonged crises.

In South Sudan, 90% of parents said at least one child in their household was involved in casual labour.

In Somalia, 41% reported that children had been exposed to trafficking.

Across the study population, 17% of families said a child in their home had been married off due to economic hardship.

46% of caregivers said children in their households were engaged in some form of work, k—often at the expense of their education and safety.

“We are not just witnessing a hunger crisis. We are witnessing the systematic dismantling of childhood,” said Rives.

“We are seeing children forced out of classrooms into dangerous work, early marriage, and exploitation simply because they don’t have enough to eat.

A hungry child cannot learn. A child who is working to feed their family cannot grow. A child who is married at 13 has had her future stolen before it began.”

Disrupted Education

Food insecurity is also driving children out of school.

43% of parents surveyed said their children could no longer attend school regularly, while 40% reported pulling children out specifically to find food or earn income.

In South Sudan, CAR, and Ethiopia, over 70% of respondents said they could not afford school-related costs such as fees, books, or uniforms.

In many countries, school meals provide one of the few incentives to attend.

In Somalia, 44% of caregivers said they sent their children to school primarily for the feeding programme.

In Ethiopia, 31% relied on school meals, sometimes shared with family members.

The connection between hunger and school dropout is especially dangerous for girls, who are often the first to be withdrawn from education and placed at greater risk of early marriage or domestic responsibilities.

Psychological Distress

Beyond physical consequences, the psychological toll on children is severe.

38% of families reported that children were showing signs of emotional or behavioural distress due to hunger and deteriorating living conditions.

This included anxiety, depression, aggression, crying, and substance use.

Caregivers described high levels of stress, especially single parents and those raising children with disabilities.

Many said they felt isolated and forgotten as aid systems contract under pressure.

 The Role of Resilience

Despite the challenges, some communities are employing local adaptation strategies.

In Uganda, where World Vision supports refugees with livelihood training and sustainable agriculture, families able to grow food reported fewer instances of severe hunger.

World Vision stresses the importance of combining emergency assistance with resilience-building efforts, including vocational training, cash assistance, school feeding programmes, and regenerative agriculture.

But as of May 2025, only 10% of the $46 billion needed for global humanitarian needs had been funded, putting these long-term solutions at risk.

What Needs to Change: World Vision’s Recommendations

In response to the unfolding crisis, the report outlines key recommendations for governments, donors, and humanitarian actors to prevent further harm and build long-term resilience:

1. Restore and increase food assistance in displacement contexts
   Donors and UN agencies must urgently restore food aid levels, prioritising refugee and displaced populations, and ensure food support continues as long as displacement lasts.
2. Scale up cash and resilience programming alongside food aid
   Food assistance must be complemented with integrated responses, including:
   • Cash transfers to preserve dignity and purchasing power,
   • Livelihoods support to reduce dependency and school feeding programmes to retain children in school,
   • Regenerative agriculture and savings groups to help families withstand future shocks.
3. Protect children from harm
   Expand child protection programming in displacement settings.
4. This includes investment in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), case management for at-risk children, and ensuring access to education, especially for girls.
5. Provide predictable, flexible, and multi-year funding
   Governments and donors should commit to sustained, flexible, and multi-year funding to stabilise food pipelines and support community recovery.
6. Listen to and involve affected communities
   Refugees, displaced families, and host communities must be meaningfully involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of humanitarian responses.

The organisation’s Children’s Emergency Fund is a key mechanism for directing support to the most vulnerable children, helping ensure not just survival, but protection, education, and recovery.

“If we fail to act now,” warned Rives, “we will not only lose lives—we will lose the future of an entire generation.”