The Difference We Can Make
Thanks to supporters, we have responded to disasters across the world
Why we respond to emergencies
We are called to go where we're needed most. Over the past five years we've increased our work in fragile states by 18%. Now nearly one in three of the children we support live in the most fragile and inaccessible states in the world. We work where disasters are most likely to strike and the most vulnerable children live.
Why? Emergencies can deprive children of their homes and security, leaving them open to abuse and extreme poverty. With your support, we intervene rapidly when disaster strikes. We protect and bring hope to vulnerable children and families, supporting displaced people and those seeking refuge across borders. We help them rebuild, adapt and increase resilience in the long term.
Our response
During 2019, World Vision helped 20 million people in emergencies across 58 countries. That’s 55,000 people each day. We responded to many long-term humanitarian crises caused by conflict – often made worse by drought, as well as natural disasters including flooding, earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis. With support from Start Fund, we responded rapidly to 20 emergencies. We delivered emergency projects within 45 days and assisted over 600,000 people.
43,282 metric tonnes of food items
distributed to children and pregnant/breastfeeding women to stop malnutrition
€1,627,005 in food or cash vouchers
and other forms of cash programming distributed (including cash for work)
654,317 families given access to chlorination points
to prevent cholera, with 92,887 houses disinfected
Respond with us
One of the reasons we are able to be on the ground, supporting people within 72 hours of an emergency - or often even faster - is because of World Vision supporters backing our Emergency Fund. It allows us to build relief supplies such as food, shelter, and household items, ready to be distributed to families when catastrophe strikes.
When emergencies hit, children are often the most at risk. That’s why we need to be there – in places torn apart by disasters and conflict. Help make sure we can always be there.
Recent Emergency Responses
Ensuring children in emergencies don’t lose out on education
According to a 2017 UNICEF study, humanitarian crises have disrupted the education of 75 million children. We worked with a local partner in Syria and the then-Department for International Development on an education project to prevent children from losing out on education due to the ongoing conflict.
380 teachers trained
10,000 children reached
52% average grade process in camps
The Result
The project trained 380 teachers, and over 10,000 children were reached with a back to learning campaign. 2,531 children were registered in either pre-primary or catch-up education. Evidence from progress improvement tests showed that children hugely benefitted from the programmes. This contributed to both increased attendance rates and buy-in from parents and children.
Building resilience to climate change in Uganda
In Uganda, we worked with the government and the national meteorological authority on an 18-month project that aims to improve the resilience of vulnerable people by providing weather and climate information. The WISER project, funded by UK AID working through the UK Met Office, provides information translated into local languages in 22 districts across Uganda, along with advice for farmers. Information is shared through a range of channels, including local radio stations, community meetings, district climate champions, churches and other faith groups and local government agricultural extension services.
200,504 people
directly accessed weather and climate information
3 million people
were reached by radio broadcasts
78% of farmers
surveyed believed the information is accurate and relevant
I have followed the advice, and that is why I am resilient to the impacts of climate change because I have enough food for my family all year round.
The Result
By the end of October 2019, evaluation results showed that 160,000 farmers had reduced their vulnerability to climate hazards by taking various actions. These included storing up food before prolonged droughts, using sustainable agricultural practices to improve production, and putting in place measures to reduce the impact of climate change. These included digging channels for water, terracing and planting trees.
Short term response to keep long term gains in Sudan
In response to the 2015-2016 El Niño causing drought in Sudan, we acted fast to ensure we didn’t lose long term progress, by providing animals to 16,533 families so they had food and income. We also reacted to the rise in malnutrition by screening and referring malnourished children to therapeutic feeding centres for treatment.
As well as the emergency actions, our previous work in community structures and training meant we could quickly respond to the drought. This meant people were shielded from some of the worst effects. We could, therefore, help prevent great community migration, meaning families, communities and peoples’ lives were kept more stable, and children’s education less interrupted.
We'll keep you updated
We respond to emergencies within 72 hours, and through our national offices in nearly 100 countries, we always have rapid information on the issues affecting vulnerable children around the world. Sign up to receive emails for breaking news about our emergency response around the world, updates on our work, and ways you can care for children.
Our history of emergency response
