Humanitarian financing reform in East Africa.
Rising refugee numbers and persistent underfunding led the World Food Programme (WFP) in October to cut food rations to South Sudanese refugees in Kenya and Uganda. This is consistent with a global picture of a humanitarian system struggling with the response to major emergencies like the war in Syria or the ‘four famines’ of 2017 (threatening South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria). Over a year after the World Humanitarian Summit promised new approaches to funding, there is little sign that the strain these protracted crises place on the humanitarian system is being alleviated.
South Sudan refugee flows will add to host nation pressures, threatening Uganda and Ethiopia’s exemplary approaches.
Shrinking budgets and donors linking aid to national interest may force aid agencies to seek new revenue sources.
Expanded cash programmes will disrupt current aid models, as funds go directly to recipients, bypassing large aid providers.
