Record high figures

We assisted almost 12 million people in 2020

Our 15,000 colleagues in 34 countries assisted almost 12 million people forced to flee in 2020. Never in our 75-year history has the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reached out to so many people in need of help and protection.

There are more people fleeing their homes than ever before. Around the world, more than 80 million people have been forced to flee because of violence, conflict or persecution. And the Covid-19 pandemic has affected these vulnerable people more than most.

Since the corona alarm went off in the spring of 2020, our colleagues have worked hard to provide assistance to displaced people and prevent the spread of infection. As a result, we were able to reach out with help to almost three million more people in 2020 compared to the year before.

This is NRC 2021

NRC is grateful that the support we receive from private and institutional donors enables us to increase our efforts as the need increases. However, the needs are far greater than the total resources available for humanitarian work.

Help us to help even more people in 2021. Make a donation today

This is how we helped in 2020

More than 6.5 million people in 2020 benefited from clean water and improved sanitation and hygiene conditions. This is crucial to preventing the spread of diseases, including Covid-19.

Nearly 1.9 million received food assistance or help to earn their own income, while 1.3 million got help with obtaining a temporary or permanent home. Almost 1.8 million received legal assistance and advice, more than 1.1 million received educational support, and more than 300,000 lived in NRC-run displacement camps. Many displaced people received several types of assistance.

 

Top three

Last year, NRC worked in 34 of the most conflict-stricken countries spread across four continents. These are the three countries where we assisted the largest number of people in 2020:

SOUTH SUDAN: Sakondo, a community mobiliser working with NRC uses his megaphone to tell people about Covid-19 prevention measures at a local market in Juba. He encourages physical distancing and the use of face masks while selling and buying items. Photo: Egily Hakim George/NRC

SOUTH SUDAN: 1,690,703 people assisted

Despite a period of relative stability, more than seven million people still need humanitarian assistance across South Sudan – some two thirds of the population. Women and children continue to be the most affected. Hunger threatens over half of the population. Almost four million people remain displaced by the crisis, either in neighbouring countries or within South Sudan itself.

NRC supported more than one million people in 2020 with clean water and improved sanitation and hygiene conditions. This is crucial to preventing the spread of diseases, including Covid-19.

More than 490,000 received food assistance from us, or help to earn their own income, while more than 93,000 got help with obtaining a temporary or permanent home. Almost 38,800 received legal assistance and advice, and more than 100,000 received educational support. Many displaced people received several types of assistance.

SOMALIA. Mercy Gitau is responsible for NRC’s water, sanitation and hygiene projects in Somalia. Here she is meeting with local resident Hali Said Jamal who is taking her goats to water points built by NRC in Qardho District. Photo: Ingrid Prestetun/NRC

SOMALIA: 1,447,232 people assisted

According to data from the Protection and Monitoring Returns Network (PRMN), over one million people were displaced by floods, conflict and drought in Somalia last year, the highest figures recorded since 2016. So far, 112,000 have been displaced in the first three months of 2021, of whom 34 per cent were uprooted because of drought.

NRC provided clean water, sanitation and hygiene promotion to more than one million people in Somalia in 2020. More than 152,000 received food assistance or help to earn their own income, while more than 13,000 got help with obtaining a temporary or permanent home. Almost 163,800 received legal assistance and advice, more than 135,000 received educational support. Many displaced people received several types of assistance.

Read how boreholes are transforming lives in rural Somalia

YEMEN. NRC’s Jan Egeland visiting a children’s malnutrition hospital in Hajjah, northern Yemen. He met with a 9-year-old girl who was unable to walk because of malnutrition. Her mother told Egeland they couldn’t afford to eat, and their food rations were cut by half last year. Photo: Michelle Delaney/NRC

YEMEN: 1,122,453 people assisted

The UN calls Yemen “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”. The country has been devastated by six years of war, and the situation has been further aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 20 million people need humanitarian aid. Over 12 million of these are estimated to be in acute need, of which more than half are children. These people are facing crisis and are struggling to obtain the basics needed to survive. Food insecurity and malnutrition are the most urgent issues, and more than 16 million people – half the population – are predicted to go hungry this year.

In Yemen, NRC supported more than 683,000 people with clean water and improved sanitation and hygiene conditions in 2020. This is crucial to preventing the spread of diseases, including Covid-19.

More than 438,000 received food assistance or help to earn their own income, while more than 38,000 got help with obtaining a temporary or permanent home. More than 201,000 received legal assistance and advice,  and more than 34,000 received educational support. Many displaced people received several types of assistance. More than 13,000 lived in NRC-run displacement camps.

Here are 10 facts about the deadly crisis in Yemen