According to World Food Programme (WFP) estimates, 345.2 million people are projected to be food insecure in 2023 – more than double the number in 2020 — with women and girls bearing the brunt of the global hunger crisis. In 2021, there were 150 million more women than men who were food insecure worldwide — a vast increase from the 18 million gender gap in 2018.
Around the world, food insecurity and its impact on livelihoods are creating ripple effects for women and girls, including health and safety risks, increased sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and decreasing access to education. Women are forced to bear the double burden of employment and household responsibilities, having to become breadwinners as their husbands migrate in search of alternative means of subsistence.
Supporting Local Women’s Groups at the Forefront of the Response
Women’s rights organizations see themselves as having a critical role in contributing to improved food security, not only because women are custodians of food and food preparation in their households, but because of their roles as advocates for more gender-responsive food systems and equal land rights.
It is essential that women civil society leaders and their local, grassroots organizations must take on leadership roles in humanitarian food assistance to ensure inclusive and gender-responsive policies, planning and response to the hunger crisis. They must be enabled to promote and support women’s access to all productive resources and apply a gender lens to the effects and impacts of conflicts on food security — and vice versa.
WPHF civil society partners are already implementing activities contributing to food security in crisis contexts, such as enabling access to knowledge on modern gardening techniques and resilient crops, resulting in stable income for women, or providing startup grants for farmers to scale their agricultural activities.
Eligible Countries
Amongst the WPHF list of eligible countries, 15 countries in 4 regions have very high, high and moderate levels of concern for acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 and higher),5 making them priority areas for funding. These countries, listed in order of priority, are:
- Ethiopia
- South Sudan
- Somalia
- Yemen
- Nigeria
- Afghanistan
- Sudan
- Burundi
- Niger
- Uganda
- Malawi
- Haiti
- Mali
- Central African Republic
- Democratic Republic of Congo
