Deteriorating socio-economic conditions, new and ongoing conflicts and lack of humanitarian funding increase the risk of gender-based violence for uprooted women and girls, UNHCR, the United Nations for Refugees.

“The combination of several factors – conflict, climate change, skyrocketing prices and the repercussions of the war in Ukraine – is having a devastating effect on uprooted people. This situation is felt all over the world, and women and girls are particularly affected,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

Many refugees and internally displaced people are unable to meet their basic needs, due to price inflation and insufficient humanitarian assistance as a result of disrupted supply chains and lack of of financing.

Uprooted women and girls are often the most vulnerable to these challenges, due to the loss of their livelihoods, the disruption of their community protection systems and, as is often the case, their exclusion from education and other national social protection systems. Faced with food shortages and soaring prices, many women and girls are forced to resort to drastic measures to survive.

“With savings running low, many are skipping meals, children are forced to work instead of going to school, and some have no choice but to resort to begging or prostitution to survive. . Too many of them face heightened risks of exploitation, trafficking, early marriage and domestic violence,” said Filippo Grandi.

Among refugee populations in Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, Republic of Congo and Zambia, UNHCR has noted serious nutritional problems. These include acute malnutrition, stunting and anemia. In East and Southern Africa, more than three-quarters of refugees have seen their food rations reduced and are unable to meet their basic needs. In Syria, 1.8 million people living in displacement camps are severely food insecure, while nine out of ten Syrian refugees in Lebanon cannot afford food or access to essential services.

In the Americas, half of uprooted people eat only two meals a day, and three quarters of them reduce the quantity or quality of their food, according to data collected by UNHCR. Major food security challenges are expected in Yemen and the Sahel. Furthermore, in some countries such as Somalia and Afghanistan, for example, 90% of displaced persons do not have sufficient food.

There is a kind of vicious and shocking circle between hunger and insecurity, each factor exacerbating the other and aggravating the risks for women and girls, since harmful coping mechanisms are adopted within the populations concerned.

Reports of young girls being forcibly married to allow the family to buy food are particularly shocking. In the East and Horn of Africa, child marriages are on the rise, to ease the pressure on household incomes. The risks of sexual violence are also heightened by the drought, as women and girls have to walk longer distances to fetch water and firewood.

While the need for gender-based violence programs has never been greater, UNHCR is concerned that funding is not keeping up. Overall needs identified by UNHCR for gender-based violence prevention and response programs in 2023 will reach approximately $340 million, the highest amount ever.

As part of the 2022 campaign theme of 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women, UNHCR urges donors to support the prevention and response to gender-based violence and to maintain funding essential humanitarian programs so that refugees and other uprooted people can meet their basic needs.

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees