Top 10 most underreported humanitarian crises of 2016

Aid organisation CARE International says millions of people suffered in 2016 from ongoing conflicts and natural disasters but few members of the public know about it.

CARE report highlights suffering in most under reported humanitarian crises in the world. (AAP) Source: AAP

The Brexit vote, the US election, celebrity deaths, terror attacks and the ongoing war in Syria - 2016 was a huge year for international news.

But CARE International says there is a world of underreported humanitarian crises, making it difficult to appeal for assistance for at least a million people struggling to survive.

Humanitarian and Emergency Response Manager, Stefan Knollmayer, says they hope their latest report, Suffering in Silence, will bring attention to crises that are overlooked.

"It's frustrating as an aid worker. I've been to some of these places, including Papua New Guinea more recently, and it's really difficult to show the world and help them understand how serious the situation is," Mr Knollmayer said.

Using the media monitoring services of Meltwater Group, CARE analysed natural disasters or conflicts that received the least media attention in 2016. More than 250,000 global online sources were monitored in English, French and German.

CARE identified 10 nations in its report struggling with food shortages, conflicts and natural disasters.

1. Eritrea

Displaced people hide in the caves 10 kilometers from the frontline at Tsorona, Eritrea (AAP) Source: AAP

According to UN estimates, about two million people are without adequate food supplies in this semi-arid country. Eritrea has been hit hard by the dry spells of El Niño. Women and children’s survival is most at risk and acute malnutrition is one of the major underlying causes of death. Half of all children in Eritrea are stunted and cannot achieve their full mental and physical potential, simply because they go hungry.

2. Burundi

Policemen patrol the Musaga district of Bujumbura, Burundi, July 20, 2015 (AAP) Source: AAP

An estimated 130,000 people are internally displaced and over 300,000 people left their home to seek safety in neighbouring countries. More than two million people do not know how to feed their families as the country experiences rising food prices while poor rains affected last year’s harvest.

3. Madagascar

Barren and dry land makes life hard for people in Madagascar. Over 330,000 face severe hunger and are in emergency phase - just one step away from famine (AAP) Source: AAP

A vicious combination of consecutive years of drought and the El Niño climatic cycle has withered corn, cassava and rice fields, leaving almost 1.5 million people in southern Madagascar dependent on emergency aid. Over 330,000 people face severe hunger and are classified as being in an “emergency phase” – just one step away from the official famine level.

4. Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

A Pyongyang city mass rally took place to vow to carry through the tasks set forth by respected Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un (AAP) Source: AAP

What we know about North Korea is limited to sporadic news about nuclear tests and the country’s authoritarian rule. Very little information is available about the 18 million people – 70 per cent of the population - who do not have enough to eat. Among them are more than two million children and pregnant and lactating women who are at risk of malnutrition.

5. Lake Chad Basin (Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria)

Hands holding Sorghum grains given as food aid by CARE to the family of Fatima Abbakar-Gedala, a resident of Djiogi (AAP) Source: AAP

Long-running violence and military counter-offensives have affected 21 million people across the Lake Chad Basin and left nearly half of the region’s population - 9.2 million people - in critical need of aid. More than six million people face severe hunger.

6. Democratic Republic of Congo

More than seven million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, struggling to survive violence, epidemics, malnutrition and natural disasters (AAP) Source: AAP

Ongoing fighting between numerous armed groups, droughts due to the El Niño climatic cycle and the influx of refugees from neighbouring countries such as Burundi, the Central African Republic and South Sudan have exacerbated the dire living conditions for many families in the DRC. More than seven million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, struggling to survive violence, epidemics, malnutrition and natural disaster.

7. Bangladesh

Women and girls in Bangladesh are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters such as flooding, as many do not know how to swim (AAP) Source: AAP

In 2016, the floods affected more than four million people, destroying homes, fields and livelihoods. Families were in urgent need of food, drinking water, latrines, shelter and health support.

8. Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, El Nino brought a major drought and repeated frosts at high altitudes, wiping out crops (AAP) Source: AAP

El Niño brought a major drought and repeated frosts at high altitudes, wiping out crops and drying out water sources in a country where 80 per cent of the population depend on farming. As a result, more than 1.4 million people went hungry.

9. Central African Republic

Soldiers of the United Nations Mission in Central African Republic try to extinguish the fire in Bangui following unrest (AAP) Source: AAP

More than two million people - almost half of the population - are in desperate need of food and humanitarian assistance. More than 380,000 people have been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the conflict, seeking shelter in other parts of the country or in neighbouring countries, such as Cameroon, Chad or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

10. Sudan

About 440,000 people have fled South Sudan into Uganda in the past year alone (AAP) Source: AAP

More than two million children are acutely malnourished. In addition, the country faces regular floods and droughts. Almost three million Sudanese are displaced within their country and many others have sought safety in neighbouring states. At the same time, a quarter of a million South Sudanese have fled to Sudan to escape the violence that has ensnarled their own country for the past three years.