News

About 8 million children across East and Southern Africa could face acute hunger by early 2027, a rise of 30%, as one of the strongest El Nino weather events in recent years fuels a growing food crisis, according to new analysis by Save the Children.

Children should be protected before recruitment begins.

Across conflict-affected communities, children face risks that can fundamentally change the course of their lives. Poverty, insecurity, displacement, disrupted education, family separation and limited opportunities can leave children increasingly vulnerable to recruitment and use by armed forces and armed groups.

A new research publication, Preventing the Recruitment and Use of Children: An Analysis of the Barriers to Implementing Select Vancouver Principles in South Sudan and Somalia, examines these challenges and asks an important question: What will it take to prevent children from being recruited in the first place?

The study looks at the implementation of selected Vancouver Principles in South Sudan and Somalia, two countries where children continue to experience the devastating consequences of armed conflict.

Meet Hafsa, a community health worker bringing care to Somalia's most remote villages

Published for World Humanitarian Day, 19 August 2026

Joining Forces Alliance calls for anticipatory funding to be released now, while a two-month preparedness window remains open

The number of children receiving treatment for the most dangerous form of malnutrition in Baidoa, south central Somalia, nearly tripled in six months, according to new figures from Save the Children’s stabilization centre in the region, warning over the country’s worsening drought and hunger crisis. 

Health worker Anab and her colleagues Maryam and Kaltun travel by ambulance, on foot and by donkey to bring routine vaccines to remote and nomadic families in Puntland, Somalia. The hardest part of the job is not the distance. It is trust, and they are winning it.

A former volunteer teacher in Baidoa retrains through a Save the Children diploma course for women and transforms her classroom into a place where girls speak up, stay in school, and see what an educated woman can be.

Save the Children and local partners to reach almost 245,000 displaced and drought-hit people with health, food, water, protection and learning, with a fresh EUR 2 million from the European Union.

Conflict forced Hawa*, 60, to flee with nothing. Unconditional cash from Save the Children, through the ECHO-funded Somali Cash Consortium, carried her family through their hardest months in Qandala, Somalia.

When the Shabelle River broke its banks, Ahmed*, 55 and his family lost their home, their crops, and their only income in a matter of hours. Five months later, unconditional cash assistance from Save the Children helped them survive and begin again. His harvest has returned. The river, still unbanked, has not gone away.

Maryam*, 40, is raising eleven children in Bander Beyla District, Puntland, where two years of declining fish catches left the family in debt and several children out of school. Through a Save the Children project funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, she received 90 dollars a month for four months, allowing her to buy food, store water and return children to class. She is now a member of a community early warning committee, helping neighbours prepare for climate shocks and calling for continued support so her children can stay in school.

About half of children under 5 in Somalia are facing acute malnutrition as poor rains and rising costs drive up hunger levels, with risk of famine announced for the first time in four years.

In a new report, When Aid Disappears, Childhood Disappears Too, Save the Children reveals how the collapse of international aid funding to Somalia in 2025 may soon lead to catastrophic outcomes for children not seen since the 2011 famine, which killed over 257,000 people.  

Eight-year-old Ali* and his family were forced to flee their home due to a prolonged drought and conflict. In his new environment, he lost his daily rhythm when he could no longer go to school. The child-friendly space brought security, friends and joy into his life that had long since disappeared. 

Fuel prices in Mogadishu surged 150% in March, from $0.60 to $1.50 per litre, with many imported food items doubling in retail price in just two weeks. Somalia's electricity supply, which relies heavily on diesel generators, also saw sharp cost increases, with pressures felt by households as well as schools and hospitals.