According to UNICEF and WHO, 818 million children lack basic hand-washing facilities at their schools, which puts them at increased risk of COVID-19. More than one-third are from sub-Saharan Africa.
Across three crisis-affected BAY states, 10.6 million people out of a total of 13 million – four in five – will need some form of aid in 2020 - a 49% increase in the numbers in need on last year.
Eight children under-five died in Al Hol camp within five days. The spike was recorded between 6 and 10 August, and is more than three times higher than the mortality rate since the beginning of 2020.
With forecast below-average rainfall from October to December, food security outcomes are expected to deteriorate through at least early 2021 in Somalia, southern and southeastern Ethiopia.
The last time West Africa was hit by a locust invasion in 2003-05 it affected more than eight million people, caused severe food shortages that drove up market prices and conflict over limited resources.
Most of the more than 200,000 Palestine refugees live below the poverty line, with their situation made worse by the economic crisis and restrictive measures triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNHCR is saddened to report that the list of more than 200 fatalities of the deadly and destructive explosion which rocked Beirut on 4 August also includes at least 34 reported refugee victims so far.
Since the end of July, at least 2,500 people have crossed the border while ethnic-related unrest has affected an estimated 20,000 people within Western Darfur, mostly women and children.
Child vaccination drives, including polio campaigns, were halted in both Afghanistan and Pakistan in March 2020. As a result, reported polio cases have reached 34 in Afghanistan and 63 in Pakistan.
The supplies include blankets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and solar LED lamps, tents and tarpaulins. These are being distributed to 1,500 families displaced in conflict-hit areas of Ituri province.