EASTERN
AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
45 million children in Eastern and Southern Africa are struggling to survive overlapping crises
brought on by drought, protracted conflict, unstable governments, and weak economies.
At least 3.6 million children are in urgent need of care.
AT A GLANCE
WHO
Children from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, and the Democratic
Republic of Congo
WHY
Protracted conflict, climate shocks, unstable governments, and weak economies
NEEDS
Food
Water
Medical Care
Nutrition Screening
Education
Relief
Shelter
THE CAUSE
Poor governance, war, and climate change-fueled
environmental disasters underpin this refugee crisis.
A mix of armed conflict and state insecurity, climate-driven shocks (especially drought and floods), and deepening economic hardship are fueling the refugee crisis in Eastern and Southern Africa.
The origins of the crisis can be traced to colonial borders and state formation that left many ethnic groups split across borders and created weak, contested states, which later fed cross-border conflict and repeated displacement. Post-independence authoritarian governments in several countries used violence to suppress opposition. Such political repression became a major source of refugees and fueled civil wars and liberation struggles in places such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sudan, Angola, Somalia, Eritrea, Burundi, and the DRC, generating large refugee flows over a period of decades.
The crisis has been exacerbated by severe climate shocks, including persistent drought and flooding cycles that have created ongoing famine.
IMPACT ON CHILDREN
The vast majority of those fleeing this crisis are children.
Well over half of the refugees from Eastern and Southern Africa are children under the age of 17. They face severe and escalating risks, including malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare and education, and psychological trauma due to violence, recruitment, exploitation, displacement, and separation.
Malnutrition is reaching critical levels: 4.2 million children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and one in three children in the region are living in severe child food
poverty.
Public health crises are intensifying, with 19 of 22 countries simultaneously confronting outbreaks of cholera, mpox, Ebola, Marburg, and vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles
and polio. Cholera cases increased by 21 per cent in 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, while deaths rose by 35 per cent.
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Children living in overcrowded refugee camps and unstable host communities face greater risks of child labor, early marriage, trafficking, and violence. When camps and villages are attacked,
many children are forced to flee alone or lose caregivers, leaving them more vulnerable and less protected.
The cumulative effects of these circumstances can last well beyond the emergency itself. Children who miss school or grow up under chronic stress are more likely to face poor health, weaker earning prospects, and continued vulnerability as adults.
THE CRISIS TODAY
The plight of refugees in the region is one of the most dire in the world,
with food blockades, war crimes and starvation calling for immediate and sustained attention from the international community.
The refugee crisis in Eastern and Southern Africa is one of the world’s largest and most persistent displacement emergencies. According to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), as of the end of 2025, approximately 22.5 million people were displaced from their homes in Eastern and Southern Africa. Approximately 5.6 million of those
are refugees, and another 680,000 are asylum seekers. The crisis is driven mainly by:
Conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Burundi, Eritrea, and parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, forcing populations to flee across borders.
Climate shocks such as droughts and floods that have made livelihoods harder to sustain, especially for pastoral and farming communities. In 2024, the worst El Niño-induced drought in a century destroyed harvests in Souther Africa and pushed communities to the edge. They are yet to recover.
Weak economies and limited humanitarian funding, making it harder for host countries to support long-term refugee needs
The crisis is exacerbated by recent shortfalls in aid funding. In 2025, UNICEF faced one of its most acute funding gaps, leaving almost $700 million unmet—60 per cent of the total request.
Despite the funding constraints that have disrupted lifesaving programs, UNICEF and partners have continued to make an impact thanks to the generosity of flexible funding. As of mid-2025, nearly 900,000 children received treatment for severe wasting across the region, 12 million children were vaccinated against measles, and approximately 4.4 million people gained access to safe water.
SOURCES
UNHCR
World Bank Blogs
UNICEF
NIH National Library of Medicine