13 year-old Awa used to miss school when she had her period. But since new segregated toilets have been installed, she can now manage her periods with safety and dignity.

providing girls with safe and clean toilets in Burkina faso.

13-year-old Awa remembers having to manage her periods in the bushes near her school in the Centre East region of Burkina Faso.

“When I first came to this school, the latrines were bad. There were no separate latrines for boys and girls.

Awa

This lack of a safe place to manage their periods often led to many of Awa’s classmates staying home from school when they had their periods. Access to education in Burkina Faso is already a challenge for girls, with the country facing insecurity and internal displacement. Missing school due to a lack of safe and clean toilets can lead to some girls dropping out of education altogether and never returning, placing them at greater risk of child marriage and other forms of gender-based violence.

Georgette, a teacher at Awa’s school, remembers when menstrual hygiene management was a major challenge for her female students, and how it affected the rest of their lives. “There are so many barriers to girls’ access to education, including child, early and forced marriage and the burden of housework. Before the segregated latrines were installed, many girls would stay at home on their period, and some would end up dropping out altogether. It meant that many girls failed school, especially if their period coincided with exams or assessments.”

With the support of Plan International, Awa’s school has now built separate toilets for girls and boys, as well as installing new hand washing facilities and teaching girls how to make their own reusable pads. The new facilities have meant that girls can now manage their periods in safety and dignity. Awa is thrilled with the change.

“The latrines are brilliant, and we can stay in school when we have our period. We just change our pads in the latrines and go back to class.”

you can help provide communities with access to safe, clean toilets by purchasing a gift of hope.

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Georgette has seen the difference the toilets have made to the confidence of her female students, and their ability to attend classes and concentrate while they are at school.

“Before, there was nowhere for the girls to change in private as the latrines were mixed and there was no door. Now the girls are happy they can manage their period and stay in school. These latrines have had an impact on the girls’ academic performance. The girls attend classes and do not miss them like they did before.

“I would like everyone to know that girls too can build the country like men. What men can do, girls can do too. There is a saying that ‘to educate a girl is to educate a nation’. I want all girls in Burkina Faso to attend school.”

We believe young people are the experts of their own experience and their voices and ideas play an essential role in shaping Plan International’s work. Initially developed by Plan International Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (2013), the Youth Reporter Project is one way we empower young people to tell their own stories and raise their voices about the issues that matter to them and to their communities. The project provides mobile journalism (mo-jo) training for young people aged 13 to 24, allowing participants to capture and produce digital stories and news reports using smartphones.

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telling their own stories

A new wave of citizen journalists.

We believe young people are the experts of their own experience and their voices and ideas play an essential role in shaping Plan International’s work, from informing our advocacy recommendations to governments, to guiding our program activities and our emergency response plans during crises.

Initially developed by Plan International Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan (2013), the Youth Reporter Project is one way we empower young people to tell their own stories and raise their voices about the issues that matter to them and to their communities.

The project provides mobile journalism (mo-jo) training for young people aged 13 to 24, allowing participants to capture and produce digital stories and news reports using smartphones.

The youth-friendly training toolkit has been utilised in a number of countries where Plan International works, and its five modules provide guidance around the many aspects of reporting, from the theoretical (ethics and principles of journalism) to the practical (equipment, photography, script writing, editing and writing for social media).

Following training, participants are equipped with the skills and knowledge to put their learnings into practice as young citizen journalists, media literacy advocates, and change agents in their communities.

Keep scrolling to to visit some of the communities where Plan International works, led by young people who have completed mobile journalism training.

14-year-old Jeneba dreams of being a lawyer so she can defend people’s rights. But for girls in Sierra Leone, it can be hard to attend school and finish their education.

In Tanzania, many families rely on their crops for food as well as income. When crops fail many children, like 9-year-old January, are forced out of school and into work to help support their families.

The effects of climate change are being felt heavily in Bangaldesh. But Shejuti is using her passion and skills to ensure that no one in her community has to loose their homes or leave their loved ones behind.

As a member of a Girls Group in her school in Vietnam, 15-year-old Luyen is helping her family and community adapt to the changing climate.

Plan International has supported Fransiska’s community in Indonesia to construct and maintain a fresh water supply. It provides safe and clean water to her community, and allows girls to concentrate on their studies.

To see more stories from Plan International projects around the world, follow the link below.

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Holding On To Education In Somaliland

“Sometimes we have breakfast and sometimes we don’t have it. I feel hungry when I have classes. When I’m hungry I can’t study well.”

ZamZam

12-year-old ZamZam, from the Togdheer region of Somaliland, is one of the lucky ones. She is still enrolled in school. But the severe drought in Somalia, which has bought the country to the brink of famine, makes holding on to her education a constant challenge. Like many of her classmates and friends, ZamZam is having to split her daily time between attending classes and fetching water for households and animals from ever decreasing and distant water sources. Women and girls are mainly responsible for water collection as part of their household duties.

“Since the drought started, we often miss school because of other priorities at home such as taking care of animals and fetching water for the family. The water collection points are now quite distant. If we leave at 8:30am to collect water, we don’t get back home until around noon, and that’s how we miss school.” explains 18-year-old Hibbaq.

More than two decades of conflict have crippled Somalia’s education system, and the drought has compounded an already dire situation for girls. Even before the rains failed, more than 70% of school-aged children were out of school. Due to cultural practices and gender beliefs, girls were already more likely to be taken out of school, putting them at greater risk of sexual violence, child labour and early marriage.

Of the 2.4 million school-aged children affected by the drought in Somalia, 1.7 million are now out of school.

Like ZamZam, Hibbaq is still in school, but the impacts of the drought on her education are evident.

“Our school has one classroom that has all children from grades 4 to 8. All the children sit together facing one blackboard. The class is divided into three parts and one teacher gives lessons to all children but at a different fixed time. When the teacher gives us homework, we wait until the morning and do it at school because we don’t have any light at home. The school toilets don’t have locks and we don’t like to use them.” says Hibbaq.

In a vicious cycle, schools are closing due to low numbers, forcing those still enrolled to travel further to learn. These arduous journeys, usually while hungry and without any water to drink, is causing more to drop out.

“We walk long distances to get to school, and we are afraid that we might meet a person that may treat us badly. We also fetch water as a group to reduce the risks of being attacked by someone, but when my neighbours have water I have to go alone because I have no choice.”

Hibbaq

Help girls hold on to their education.

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12-year-old Juweriya, along with her mother and grandmother, moved to be closer to water and essential services after all their livestock died, which for pastoralists families means loss of livelihood and income. There is little food to eat and the family are badly undernourished.

“We eat twice a day. Food has run out, and the fields where food used to be brought from have dried out. So we only cook two times a day. Sometimes I have breakfast and sometimes I don’t get it. I get sick sometimes. When I have breakfast, I am okay, but when I don’t have breakfast, I get sick.”

Juweriya

But she is determined to continue her education. “Most mornings I wake up at 5am as I have to be at school by 7am. If at 7am we are not there, we will be in trouble. I get up early, I pray, put tea on the fire, fetch water and then go to school. I come every day.”

Donate now to help girls’ hold on to their education. Your gift can help fund feeding programs in schools, provide families with vital basics like food, medicine and school supplies, set up emergency classrooms and learning programs, and provide parenting skills workshops to improve family dynamics and explain the benefits of girls’ education.

Magreth and Petrider both grew up in Tanzania, and both have been supported by Plan International at different times during their lives. Today, in their own spheres of influence, they are working to tackle issues that are impacting girls in their communities. And they’re empowering other young women to know their rights and reach their potential.

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young women Leading change in Tanzania

Magreth and Petrider both grew up in Tanzania, and both have been supported by Plan International at different times during their lives.

Today, in their own spheres of influence, they are working to tackle issues that are impacting girls in their communities.

And empowering other young women to know their rights and reach their potential.

magreth

petrider

27-year-old Petrider is a youth and gender equality advocate in Tanzania and has served on a number of advisory councils and boards, to progress the rights of girls and young people.

Petrider was a co-founder of Plan International’s Youth For Change program in 2014 and was a pioneer of our Youth Takeover initiatives.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, a Post-Graduate degree in Economic Diplomacy and was awarded A Commonwealth Point of Light Award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2018 for her voluntary work to campaign to end gender-based violence in the commonwealth.

“I work as a girls rights advocate. A lot of work centres around youth and girls rights and adversity. But also I’m really passionate about the protection of girls rights.

“The majority of young girls are not educated on their rights. Young girls can really not know that they are not supposed to be married at a young age or that they are not supposed to be sexually abused because they do not have that access to know their rights.

“Once we have more interventions to ensure that young girls have access to know their rights and are able to successfully advocate more for their rights, we have that protection mechanism for young girls.

“I was the co-founder of Youth for Change… whereby we engaged different young people from the United Kingdom, Bangladesh and Ethiopia in a movement which advocates to end child marriage and gender based violence. This is led by Plan International. We really work to advocate for policy changes and this is especially in line with ending child marriage and ending female genital mutilation.

“I currently serve as a youth advisory board member for the United Nations Human Rights office which is a part of making the United Nations more inclusive. We work to promote children’s rights, especially in conflict and vulnerable communities.

So we are working together with a lot of different societies and we’re focusing on materials that will influence many countries at the global level on how children can be protected. Children that are affected by climate change, children that are affected by civil wars, children that are affected by gender based violence.. All those are some of the issues that we are working on to ensure that young people have access to their rights.”

Earlier this year, Magreth and Petrider were part of our special online Thank You Week event.

The event gave our supporters the opportunity to connect with these inspiring young women and if you missed it, you can watch a recap at the link below.

watch the event here

2022 marked 10 years of International Day of the Girl. Every year on October 11, the world recognises the unique challenges that girls face globally and celebrates their enormous potential to bring about change. We look back at some of the incredible progress we’ve seen over the past 10 years when it comes to progressing gender equality both in Australia and around the globe.

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Gender Equality

10 years of progress

This year marked 10 years of International Day of the Girl.

Every year on October 11, the world recognises the unique challenges that girls face globally and celebrates their enormous potential to bring about change.

We look back at some of the incredible progress we’ve seen over the past 10 years when it comes to progressing gender equality both in Australia and around the globe.

In 2010, Julia Gillard became Australia’s 27th Prime Minister and the first woman to hold the office. In 2012, she set Australian politics on fire and made world news with her unforgettable misogyny speech, giving words to the fury and frustration of many Australians.

Over the past 10 years, the proportion of young women forced into child marriage decreased by 15% and progress has been significant in regions previously marked by high levels of child marriage.

And around the globe, we’ve seen gender gaps in enrolment and attendance decline, which means fewer girls are out of school. UNESCO notes secondary school enrollment for females increased from 72% in 2012 to 76% in 2020.

The global adolescent birth rate amongst girls aged 15–19 dropped from 47 to 41.2 births per 1,000 between 2012 to 2020.

In 2017 the #MeToo hashtag went viral, sparking the anti-sexual harassment movement and uncovering the magnitude of sexual violence as an issue. The movement paved the way for victims of sexual violence, regardless of gender, to come forward, share their stories and hold their perpetrators to account.

The number of female youths aged 15–24 years who are illiterate almost halved between 1995 and 2018, going from 100 million in 1995 to 56 million in 2018.

Girls, young women and gender diverse young people have played an enormous role in spearheading the movement to end climate change – from Greta Thunberg catalysing the global School Strike 4 Climate in 2018, to First Nations activists like Bundjalung woman, Amelia Telford, and Gudanji Wakaja woman, Rikki Dank leading activism and advocating for First Nations voices to be heard here in Australia.

Participation in early childhood pre-school programmes increased from 65% in 2010 to 73% in 2019, with gender parity achieved in every region.

After 20 years of campaigning, the Australian Government finally abolished GST on tampons and sanitary pads in 2019, and in 2020, the Victorian Government announced free period products in all public schools in Victoria. These are both important steps in addressing period poverty and the gendered impacts of Australia’s tax and welfare system.

In March 2020 a new Women’s Safety Charter was announced, inspired by Plan International’s Safer Cities work. The Charter is designed to guide efforts by city-makers and government organisations to make Greater Sydney a safer place for girls and women.

From Brittany Higgins, to Grace Tame, we saw powerful voices against sexual abuse and assualt emerge in Australia between 2020 and 2022, leading to increased awareness and some reform.

The leadership and activism of young women such as Chanel Contos – who placed consent firmly on the national agenda with her Teach Us Consent campaign – led to Education Ministers around Australia agreeing to mandate age-appropriate consent and respectful relationships education from foundation to year 10 in all Australian schools.

Representation in Parliament is an indicator of progress on gender equality in Australia and following the May 2022 election we welcomed the most diverse Parliament, including a record number of women. We also saw the highest numbers of Parliamentarians from First Nations and Asian backgrounds elected but, there is still a way to go in our Parliament truly reflecting Australia’s multicultural society.

In July 2022, the NSW Government announced a $30 million investment into 10 pilot projects to co-design parts of the city with girls and women and address street harassment.

The last decade has seen significant, history shaping moments in Australia and around the world.

Girls, young women and gender diverse young people have been at the front of these changes, leading, speaking out and shaping the future.

To find out more, follow the link below to our report

Girl, Interrupted – 10 years of girls’ rights in Australia.

read the report here

Selina was forced to leave school when she was just eight years old, due to relatives warning her parents that educated girls are more difficult to marry. But after participating in a community dialogue on the importance of education, facilitated by Plan International, Selina’s parents agreed to let her attend a local youth club, to continue her studies.

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overcoming barriers to education in Bangladesh

In September 2017 the world watched as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled their homes in Myanmar, the vast majority across the border into Bangladesh. As a result of this crisis, there are now approximately 919,000 stateless Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. The majority of these refugees now live in some of the largest and most densely populated refugee camps in the world.

The effect this has had on the population of Cox’s Bazar cannot be understated. There were already around 200,000 Rohingya refugees living in the Cox’s Bazar area before 2017. The strain that this has put on the local population, or host communities, has pushed already stretched services to the limit.

17-year-old Selina lives in a host community on the outskirts of the Kutupalong Refugee camp, the largest of the Rohingya camps. She attended school up until the age of eight, where she loved to study Bangla and English, hearing poems and playing with her friends. But even at that early age she knew that her education would not continue much further.

“Our school was so beautiful. I felt so good to be there. However, I knew that my parents would stop my studies.” She explains.

Many relatives and others within the community would tell Selina’s family that girls did not need an education. According to these relatives, if girls were educated it was harder for them to be married, as teachers would not allow them to be married early. And if they were to get a job after school, any money they earned would go to their new husbands, not to the parents.

“My parents stopped my studies due to this malicious talk. I suffered so much from this; it can’t be expressed in words.

At that time, I thought it was wrong to be born a girl.

And when my friends used to go to school in front of me, it hurt me a lot.”

Selina was distraught, and found it very hard to watch her friends and old classmates heading to school every day. She tried to convince her parents to let her go back to school, but they refused. For the last nine years Selina has been helping with household chores such as washing clothes, dishes and helping with her two younger siblings.

Through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP), Plan International and its implementing partner, Friends in Village Development Bangladesh, have established 55 Community Based Youth Clubs (CBYCs) throughout the Rohingya refugee camps and host communities in Cox’s Bazar district. The clubs aim to provide adolescent girls and boys aged 15-24, like Selina, with access to inclusive and safe education pathways.

An integral part of the program is inviting local leaders and parents to take part in community dialogues about the importance of education, and after participating in one of these dialogues Selina’s parents agreed to let Selina attend a local youth club, to continue her education.

“I feel so good to come here to the Youth Club. I can study with my friends and can play with them in class breaks.

I am currently in level two and I love to study Bangla and English here as well.

When I studied previously, I could not read. I could not even recognize letters.

Now I can recognize letters and can read fluently.

I feel blessed to be here.”

The Bangladesh Consortium Multi Year program in Cox’s Bazar is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.

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.

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Somalia

On the brink

“That’s why I came to the doctor, to save her life.” Saado, a young mother from Somaliland, sits on a bed in a malnutrition clinic in the country’s Toghdheer region, gently fanning her one-year-old daughter, Sagal Ali, who is lying on the bed next to her.

Somalia is on the brink of famine. Four failed rainy seasons and the subsequent drought, the worst seen in the Horn of Africa in decades, rising food prices and an underfunded humanitarian response have resulted in a 160% increase in the number of people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, starvation, and disease.

The crisis is having a devastating and terrifying impact on young children like Sagal Ali. Saado and her family rely heavily on their livestock, as a source of both nutrition and income.

“We have been suffering for a long time. It has now been nine months of malnutrition and depleted livestock. Some of our animals have died and some have become very weak. Because of a lack of milk from our animals and clean water our children have been falling ill with diseases, like diarrhoea and vomiting,” explains Saado.

It is hard to imagine, but the situation is only likely to get worse. Some forecasts are predicting a fifth failed rainy season approaching later this year. Communities that are already enduring the worst hunger they have experienced in their lifetimes could be pushed to the brink of starvation.

“The drought is just getting worse and worse. The lack of water is making our situation worse. It’s getting harder and harder. My daughter is still ill. It’s difficult for us, with no milk from our animals,” says Saado.

The scale of the crisis is staggering. The latest reports from UNICEF indicate that by the end of the year 7.1 million Somalis could face extreme food insecurity and 1.5 million children under the age of five, or roughly 50% of Somali children, are at risk of becoming severely malnourished. Nearly 920,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in search of food and water.

The effects are already evident. Hamda Mohamed Nuur, a nurse at the malnutrition clinic where Sagal Ali is being treated, has seen an increase in the number of mothers arriving at the clinic in search of help for their severely malnourished children over the last six months.

“Our average admissions are way more in drought times than in usual times.

There is an increase in mothers and children who are being admitted to this clinic, day after day and month after month.

There are children who have died in our ward.”

As Sadia Allin, Head of Mission for Plan International in Somalia and Somaliland points out, girls and young women will be the hardest hit by this crisis. “When food is scarce, girls often eat less and they eat last.” She said.

Plan International has been responding to the drought across the Horn of Africa since the beginning of 2022. Working with our local partners, we are providing children and their families in Somalia and Somaliland with life-saving assistance. Our response has included emergency water trucking and cash assistance, giving families the ability to purchase food and water and access critical services such as health and education.

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Donate now to Plan International Australia’s global hunger crisis appeal.

This month, Plan International joined charities all over Australia to celebrate Include a Charity Week – a time to think about how your legacy will create a positive difference for generations to come.

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Starting a conversation about
your legacy

This month, Plan International joined charities all over Australia to celebrate Include a Charity Week – a time to think about how your legacy will create a positive difference for generations to come.

A Will is about your life and values. Including a gift for a charity gives you the power to make a positive impact on the lives of your loved ones and the world they live in.

By sharing your wishes with your family, you can kick start a conversation about the causes closest to your heart. We know this can feel a little awkward, so the Include a Charity team took some time to consult with the experts about how to tackle this very personal – but very powerful – conversation.

MEET OUR LEGACY EXPERTS

Rohani Bixler

A Special Counsel at Burke & Associates Lawyers, Rohani has an extensive legal background in Wills and Estates, and has been practising exclusively in the areas of estate planning, deceased estate administration and estate litigation and disputes since 2006.

“I do think that gifts in Wills are lovely things. If you’ve got kids, you can add to their quality of life, but you can leave a legacy that has potentially a greater impact to a greater number of people with a charitable gift.”

Stephen George

Stephen is a fundraising consultant and coach, and a NFP leader with over 30 years of experience in the sector. Stephen works with charities all over the world to raise more money, and do more good.

“It’s a natural part of human behaviour to not engage with your own mortality until you either have to, or time starts to make things clear. But as you get older, you start to realise what’s important and start to ask questions about your life and your own legacy. Some engage with this, some don’t but it’s a powerful force. Did I live a meaningful life? In this, leaving a gift in our Will becomes a way we can live on symbolically.”

Michele Davis

Michele is an experienced lawyer, nationally accredited mediator, educator, researcher and writer. A self-confessed ‘succession nerd’, Michele has practised almost exclusively in Wills and Estates since her admission to legal practice.

“At the end of the day, a Will is what you want, it’s your will in every way. But that unwillingness to talk about it can make it a conflicting situation. I’m an advocate for simplicity, openness and trying to take the taboo out of death talk, because there’s just so much value in that.”

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Why is it so important to talk about my Will with my family?

Stephen

“People are fearful of having these conversations in life. But the truth is it’s too late when you’re gone. Taking care of your affairs and explaining your decisions means you get a chance to have a say, before it’s too late. And, most importantly, you are not leaving behind a big problem for your loved ones.”

Michele

“Grief and money collectively are always a really difficult combination. It can really flesh out old issues, or create new ones. That lack of understanding of what the person wanted can sometimes exacerbate that. So those conversations can be really valuable for the family as a whole. They might be able to overcome things they never knew were an issue in the first place. When is the best time to bring up my own estate plans or charitable gifts?”

When is the best time to bring up my own estate plans or charitable gifts?

Stephen

“There’s no set rule or time. Lots of people still want to keep things private, but many people recommend having a conversation at the time you are getting a Will in place or as early as possible. It’s a good time to share what you want to do and can include sharing the charities you want to give to, any gifts to family such as heirlooms or items you treasure and even the song you want played at your funeral! So, try to be open, light-hearted, and practical – early is better than later!”

How should I raise the topic of a charitable gift in Will?

Rohani

“It can be really helpful if there’s some background to it. Take a more gentle approach by saying, ‘I know this is hard, but I really need to talk about it.’ If there’s a charitable gift, a story and context about what the charity means to you could really help develop empathy. If you’ve got a story, suddenly the other person cares too, and can see why it’s so important to you.”

Stephen

“A legacy conversation is a wonderful thing. Ask people questions. Remember it’s a conversation but you should listen more than you speak. ‘What do you think about’, ‘have you thought’ or. ‘what’s your experience,’ are ways to start to explore. Sometimes, if there’s a little nudge like a promotion or story or even someone else’s conversation, you can discuss the subject and explore and then see if it’s something they have thought about or considered.”

What would my kids say if I left a portion of my Estate to a charity,
instead of leaving everything to them?

Meet the Hendersons

Valerie and Ron Henderson sponsored children across Asia and Africa for four decades, from when their children were small to grown adults. While sadly both Ron and Val have now passed away, this year their three children were proud to take care of their legacy gift for Plan International, as Executors of Val’s Estate.

While we can’t tell you what your family would say, we can tell you that a charitable legacy is something the whole family can be proud of.

“Ron and Val’s enthusiasm for Plan’s activities was passed
on to us. We have each been sponsors with Plan for
about 30 years now.

“Ron and Val were generous supporters of many charities during their lives and Val has left a will entirely
consistent with that.

“We are very proud of the contribution that our parents have made to Plan’s important work over such a significant period and hope to continue this family ‘tradition’.

“We know that something memorable and lasting will be
achieved with Val’s bequest.”

– Fiona, Craig and Kim Henderson

AN OFFER FOR OUR COMMUNITY

To mark Include a Charity Week,
Plan International would like to offer you the chance to write your Will online for free.

Through leading online Will writing service Safewill, you can take care of what matters most – your family and friends and the causes close to your heart.

By completing an online Will before 15 October 2022, Plan International supporters will save $140 on the normal cost of this service.

Visit Safewill

Anyone with a simple Estate can complete their Will
in three simple steps:  

1. Follow the step-by-step process on the safewill website

2. Submit your Will for review by a registered solicitor   

3. Print your Will, sign it and store it in a safe place.  

Visit Safewill

Though there is no obligation to leave a bequest to Plan International Australia, we hope you will take the opportunity to continue your support and transform lives long into the future.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Key Relationships team if you have questions about how leaving a gift in your Will can work for you and your family.

You can email or call 0427 407 293

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.

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Running on empty

The Global Hunger Crisis that is putting generations of vulnerable children and girls at risk.

In 2011, a quarter of a million people died in a terrible drought-induced famine in Somalia. Half of these people were children under the age of five. A decade later, we’re facing a frighteningly similar situation – only this time, it could be a lot worse. The Global Report on Food Crises for 2022 anticipates we are on the brink of the worst recorded food crisis in history. The head of the UN’s world food program has warned of a famine of ‘biblical proportions’.

– Sara Sinada, Disaster Risk Management Program Manager, Plan International Australia

Child is measured for malnutrition while held by mother.

Almost three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, food availability and access has drastically deteriorated.

Women bore the brunt of the pandemic’s effects with their paid and unpaid workloads increasing, their incomes decreasing, and access to nutritious foods being curtailed.

COVID-19 pushed an additional 161 million people into hunger in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. That’s more than 300 people per minute.

Interventions by governments around the world have limited the spread of the virus and saved lives, but they also brought about an unprecedented worldwide economic recession.

This has exacerbated pre-existing malnutrition problems, lowered already low incomes, and worsened gender inequalities and food scarcity.

Climate change has majorly disrupted food production across the globe, with the most pronounced changes in crop growth found in sub-Saharan African countries already at high risk of climate impacts on food availability and affordability.

Maize and wheat are a staple component in the diets of people across the globe, but due to the changing climate the future yield projections for both of these crops is in worrying decline.

This comes as food production needs to ramp up by at least 60% to meet the demands of the world’s 9.6 billion people by 2050.

The Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC) for 2022 indicates that the worsening drought and weather extremes are putting some areas across eight African nations at risk of famine.

Consecutive years of below-average rainfall in places such as the Horn of Africa has produced a severe drought, with people facing water shortages, reduced yields on crops and a lack of vegetation for livestock, a critical source of food and income.

Conflict negatively affects almost every aspect of a food system.

More than half of the world’s undernourished people and almost 80% of stunted children live in countries struggling with conflict, violence or fragility.

The war in Ukraine and its devastating effects have rippled across the global landscape, undermining food security and nutrition efforts.

The UN World Food Programme – the largest humanitarian food agency and largest provider of school feeding programs – buys half of the wheat it distributes globally from Ukraine.

The war has pushed global food prices to new heights and squeezed supplies to countries already struggling with food scarcity.

Yet where is the shock, where is the outrage? Now, more than ever, we are calling for a drastically escalated response and large scale action to protect lives and livelihoods and support sustainable food systems and production where it is needed most.

– Sara Sinada, Disaster Risk Management Program Manager, Plan International Australia

Child is measured for malnutrition while being held by mother in front of yellow wall

Plan International is already supporting children and their families as they face emergency food shortages in places like the Horn of Africa.

But international relief efforts are critically underfunded.

This means impossible choices are having to be made between feeding the hungry and feeding the starving.

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Even if girls are hungry, we only eat leftovers, if there are any left. The younger children eat first … Mothers do the same thing, only eating their children’s leftovers. It affects girls in different ways. Their bodies become malnourished and you can see it from their appearance.

– Najma, 11 yo, Somaliland.

Donate to Plan International Australia’s global hunger crisis appeal, and any donation you make will be multiplied by 15 times thanks to our partnership with the World Food Programme.

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Two women lift a World Food Program supplied bag of grain

Global food supplies are a very big issue, I have never really seen anything like this before and it is hugely worrying. If we don’t intervene and act now – we are going to see a lot more deaths of children and vulnerable people.

– Berhe Tewoldeberhan, Head of Disaster Risk Management & Senior Food Security/Livelihood Recovery Program Manager at Plan International Australia.

Mother cradles her baby in front of a temporary shelter made from small branches

Right now, close to 50 million people in 81 countries are living on the edge of famine.

The number of people facing acute food insecurity has soared from 135 million before the pandemic to 345 million, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.

That is more than 13 times the population of Australia.

In Zambia, 48% of the population are unable to meet their basic calorie needs.

And more than 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 are stunted.

In Burkina Faso, 3.3 million are suffering from extreme hunger.

In the broader Central Sahel region of West Africa, 2.5 million people are displaced due to conflict.

46.5% of Guatemalan children under 5 are stunted.

Roughly 66% of the population live on less than US $2 a day.

80% of the population in Mozambique cannot afford an adequate diet.

Over 42% of children under 5 are stunted.

1.4 million children in South Sudan are suffering from acute malnutrition.

7.2 million people are facing a food crisis, the highest number on record.

25% of the population in Lebanon are refugees, and 22% of households are food insecure.

40 million people in Bangladesh are food insecure.

This is putting girls at greater risk of early marriage.

GENDER

In every region of the world during times of food scarcity, women and girls commonly go hungrier than men and boys. 60% of the people facing food insecurity today are women and girls.

Gender norms and entrenched gender inequalities result in girls and young women often eating less and last when food is scarce.

A lack of food puts girls at increased risk of dropping out of school due to costs or being expelled due to low engagement rates. When household incomes drop and food is scarce, girls are at a greater risk of their families selling them into early or forced marriages, putting them at risk of early pregnancy.

Across the board women are excluded from decision making around food and nutrition, have limited access to education, lower access to resources and services and can be subjected to gender-based violence.

The experiences of trans, gender diverse and non-binary people are not consistently captured in food security data reporting – collecting data from this community can put them at risk of further discrimination. However it is well known that their experiences of gender-based discrimination and inequity result in higher rates of poverty and poorer health and wellbeing outcomes.

CHILDREN

Hunger has serious impacts on the health of millions of children around the world, with irreversible effects on their physical growth and brain development.

Malnourished children are more vulnerable to diseases like diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia and measles, and if they do get to school they struggle to have the energy to learn effectively.

Stunting is largely irreversible and the outlook for children with stunted growth is bleak. It is associated with an underdeveloped, diminished mental ability and learning capacity, and increased risks of nutrition-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity in the future.

COVID-19 has worsened conditions for children suffering chronic hunger, with The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimating an additional 5 to 7 million children becoming stunted during the pandemic.

DISABILITY

People with disabilities are at a greater risk of malnutrition and food insecurity as they are often over represented in unemployment and low earnings data.

As well as experiencing difficulty in accessing food distribution and other food sources such as supermarkets, infants, children and youth with disabilities don’t always benefit from school-based nutrition programs because they are less likely to attend school.

In response to this crisis, Plan International Australia is calling on the Australian Government to:

Immediately commit to urgent famine relief in hunger hot spots.

Develop a strategy that complements global efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity, and commit to funding it over a three year period.

Increase investment in critical school feeding programs.

Prioritise funding for gender responsive programming that is integrated into food and nutrition programs.

Plan International staff and community memebers stand in front of bags of grain in a distribution centre

Young female student eats a meal prepared as part of school feeding program

To download the full report Running on Empty, follow the link below.

Download PDF

Donate now to Plan International Australia’s Global Hunger Crisis Appeal.

donate now

references

United Nations Global issues: Food.

United Nations Losing 25,000 to Hunger Every Day.

Early and forced marriage increase due to food insecurity in South Sudan Plan International: https://plan-international.org/news/2022/07/19/early-and-forced-marriage-increase-due-to-food-insecurity-in-south-sudan/

Global Network Against Food Crises and Food Security Information Network The Global Report on Food Crises 2022.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Food Programme (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on gender equality and food security in the Arab region with a focus on the Sudan and Iraq.

Elkins, Paul (16 December 2021) How climate change and extreme weather may lead to food shortages and escalating prices. The Conversation.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2021) The state of food security and nutrition in the world.

Human Rights Watch (28 April 2022) Ukraine/Russia: As War Continues, Africa Food Crisis Looms.

World Health Organisation WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard.

World Economic Forum (29 April 2022) 47 million people in the world are on the edge of famine. What can be done?

World Food Program USA Women are hungrier.

Plan International (2018) Adolescent Girls in Crisis: Voices from South Sudan.

UNICEF Stop stunting.

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (2020) Policy guidelines for inclusive Sustainable Development Goals: Food and nutrition.

Other ways to support us

Other ways to support us

you can help provide communities with access to safe, clean toilets by purchasing a gift of hope.

Keep scrolling to to visit some of the communities where Plan International works, led by young people who have completed mobile journalism training.

To see more stories from Plan International projects around the world, follow the link below.

Of the 2.4 million school-aged children affected by the drought in Somalia, 1.7 million are now out of school.

Help girls hold on to their education.

magreth

petrider

“My parents stopped my studies due to this malicious talk. I suffered so much from this; it can’t be expressed in words. At that time, I thought it was wrong to be born a girl. And when my friends used to go to school in front of me, it hurt me a lot.”

“Our average admissions are way more in drought times than in usual times. There is an increase in mothers and children who are being admitted to this clinic, day after day and month after month. There are children who have died in our ward.”

Donate now to Plan International Australia’s global hunger crisis appeal.

This month, Plan International joined charities all over Australia to celebrate Include a Charity Week – a time to think about how your legacy will create a positive difference for generations to come.

MEET OUR LEGACY EXPERTS

Rohani Bixler

Stephen George

Michele Davis

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Why is it so important to talk about my Will with my family?

Stephen

Michele

When is the best time to bring up my own estate plans or charitable gifts?

Stephen

How should I raise the topic of a charitable gift in Will?

Rohani

Stephen

What would my kids say if I left a portion of my Estate to a charity, instead of leaving everything to them?

Meet the Hendersons

While we can’t tell you what your family would say, we can tell you that a charitable legacy is something the whole family can be proud of.

AN OFFER FOR OUR COMMUNITY

To mark Include a Charity Week, Plan International would like to offer you the chance to write your Will online for free.

Anyone with a simple Estate can complete their Will in three simple steps:

1. Follow the step-by-step process on the safewill website 2. Submit your Will for review by a registered solicitor 3. Print your Will, sign it and store it in a safe place.

The COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing climate crisis and now the war in Ukraine have created the perfect storm for global hunger.

It is estimated that as many as 828 million people around the world are in the eye of this storm, and are struggling to find food.

As a result, a staggering 10,000 children are dying of hunger every day.

That’s equivalent to 24 children, or a typical Australian school class,

dying of hunger every 3.5 minutes.

Between school starting at 9:00am and recess at 11:30am today,

the equivalent of 60 classrooms of children will die of starvation.

The hunger crisis in South Sudan is deteriorating rapidly with many people struggling to find food and some surviving on just plant leaves and wild fruits.

A recent assessment from Plan International found that the risk girls face of early and forced marriage as a result of food insecurity is soaring in South Sudan.

As a result, a staggering 4 million girls have already been affected by early and forced marriage in 2022.

That is up from 2.7 million in 2021, an almost 50% increase in less than a year.

This hunger crisis is being driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis and conflict.

Individually these crises would be difficult for countries to manage.

However, their combination is devastating for individuals, families, communities and economies.

They are not individual factors, but intersecting forces that have combined to create new problems such as rising food prices, which have led to food riots. This in turn has created political unrest.

Since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic in late January 2020, approximately 7,500 people have died each day from COVID.

By comparison, there are currently 24,000 people dying every single day from hunger.

The result of poverty, the impacts of climate change, protracted conflict and the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Plan International is already supporting children and their families as they face emergency food shortages in places like the Horn of Africa.

But international relief efforts are critically underfunded.

This means impossible choices are having to be made between feeding the hungry and feeding the starving.

Donate to Plan International Australia’s global hunger crisis appeal, and any donation you make will be multiplied by 15 times thanks to our partnership with the World Food Programme.

Right now, close to 50 million people in 81 countries are living on the edge of famine.

The number of people facing acute food insecurity has soared from 135 million before the pandemic to 345 million, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.

That is more than 13 times the population of Australia.

In Zambia, 48% of the population are unable to meet their basic calorie needs.

And more than 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 are stunted.

In Burkina Faso, 3.3 million are suffering from extreme hunger.

In the broader Central Sahel region of West Africa, 2.5 million people are displaced due to conflict.

46.5% of Guatemalan children under 5 are stunted.

Roughly 66% of the population live on less than US $2 a day.

80% of the population in Mozambique cannot afford an adequate diet.

Over 42% of children under 5 are stunted.

1.4 million children in South Sudan are suffering from acute malnutrition.

7.2 million people are facing a food crisis, the highest number on record.

25% of the population in Lebanon are refugees, and 22% of households are food insecure.

40 million people in Bangladesh are food insecure.

This is putting girls at greater risk of early marriage.

Crisis exacerbates existing barriers and discriminatory practices.

This makes it harder for vulnerable people including women and girls, children and young people, the elderly, LGBTIQA+ communities and people with a disability to respond and recover.

In response to this crisis, Plan International Australia is calling on the Australian Government to:

Immediately commit to urgent famine relief in hunger hot spots.

Develop a strategy that complements global efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity, and commit to funding it over a three year period.

Increase investment in critical school feeding programs.

Prioritise funding for gender responsive programming that is integrated into food and nutrition programs.

To download the full report Running on Empty, follow the link below.

Donate now to Plan International Australia’s Global Hunger Crisis Appeal.

“My parents stopped my studies due to this malicious talk. I suffered so much from this; it can’t be expressed in words.

At that time, I thought it was wrong to be born a girl.

And when my friends used to go to school in front of me, it hurt me a lot.”

“Our average admissions are way more in drought times than in usual times.

There is an increase in mothers and children who are being admitted to this clinic, day after day and month after month.

There are children who have died in our ward.”

What would my kids say if I left a portion of my Estate to a charity,
instead of leaving everything to them?

To mark Include a Charity Week,
Plan International would like to offer you the chance to write your Will online for free.

Anyone with a simple Estate can complete their Will
in three simple steps:  

1. Follow the step-by-step process on the safewill website

2. Submit your Will for review by a registered solicitor   

3. Print your Will, sign it and store it in a safe place.  