Discover how children in this small Horn of Africa nation are growing up amid climate shocks, economic pressure, and refugee challenges — and how local communities are working to ensure they don’t fall through the cracks.
Djibouti is a small but strategically important country, surrounded by instability and shaped by climate extremes. Though relatively peaceful, it remains deeply vulnerable to drought, food insecurity, and regional displacement — all of which profoundly impact its children. These are the three most urgent challenges they face:
Recurring droughts have led to widespread hunger and limited access to clean water, especially in rural and nomadic areas. Malnutrition is rising among children, and schools often lack functioning water sources.
Djibouti hosts thousands of refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Many refugee children live in overcrowded camps or urban slums with poor access to education and healthcare.
While school enrollment is improving, many children — especially girls and children with disabilities — struggle to stay in school due to poverty, distance, and lack of inclusive support.
Despite these challenges, Uganda’s children remain full of hope — dreaming of education, health, and opportunities for a better tomorrow.
At iam4allkids.org, we spotlight the invisible stories on the margins of desert, border, and emergency. In Djibouti, we support the people helping children learn through heat, hunger, and displacement — and lifting up futures one child at a time.
We:
Highlight programs bringing food and water to schoolchildren in drought-affected communities
Support refugee education programs helping children rebuild after crisis
Amplify local efforts to expand access to early learning and inclusive schooling
Even in the dry dust of struggle, we help the roots of hope grow deeper.
Djibouti’s children live in a country surrounded by crisis — but their greatest fight is often against silence and neglect.
Nearly 20% of the population are refugees or migrants, including thousands of unaccompanied minors
Many rural schools lack running water, basic supplies, or trained teachers
Children in camps or urban poverty zones are at risk of dropping out or falling behind
We believe children in Djibouti deserve the same visibility, dignity, and care as those in larger nations. Their stories matter — and their futures can still be shaped.
Even in the harshest climate, hope still grows:
In dry villages, solar-powered water pumps are keeping classrooms open and children hydrated.
In refugee camps, teachers are helping students learn not just letters — but how to dream again.
On city streets, mobile learning units are reaching children who never thought school could be for them.
And thanks to supporters like you, these efforts are being seen and strengthened.
Every drop of water, every meal served, every story shared — it all matters.
For decades, UNFD has been advocating for women and girls in Djibouti — and now plays a vital role in child protection, education, and health. From girls’ school scholarships to mobile hygiene clinics, the organization supports children most at risk of being overlooked.
They also run awareness campaigns about early marriage, girls’ rights, and child nutrition, especially in rural and refugee settings. Volunteers help reconnect children with schools and give families the tools to keep them learning.
In communities where opportunity feels far away, UNFD brings it closer — one child at a time.
Operating in both urban centers and refugee camps, Caritas Djibouti provides food, clean water, and non-formal education to children who live on the streets or have fled war. Their drop-in centers offer basic health services, literacy classes, and psychosocial care.
Caritas also trains youth in trades like tailoring and mechanics, giving them a pathway to independence. For children displaced or abandoned, this is often their first consistent care.
They don’t just offer aid — they offer safety, stability, and second chances.
In drought-affected areas like Dikhil, where hunger keeps many children out of school, UNFD and local farmers launched the School Feeding Initiative to keep classrooms full and stomachs nourished.
With support from international donors, schools began serving warm meals each day — often the only hot food children would receive. Attendance rates surged, and children stayed longer and concentrated better.
Teachers say the change is more than physical. “They’re smiling again. They’re learning again.”
In 2023, Caritas Djibouti launched a month-long Street Child Outreach Campaign across Balbala, a dense and impoverished district of Djibouti City. Social workers and volunteers connected with children living without guardians or homes — many of them working in markets or sleeping in alleys.
The team distributed hygiene kits, provided health checkups, and invited children to join drop-in learning sessions. Some had never attended school at all.
For the first time, these children were given not just supplies, but support — and the invitation to imagine a different life.
Meet the ten organizations making extraordinary strides in improving the lives of Djibouti’s children — one community at a time.
Supporting girls, promoting education, and advocating for child protection and health.
Providing food, shelter, and education to refugee and street-connected children
Helping migrant children access health services, legal rights, and basic schooling.
Coordinating nationwide child-focused initiatives in water access, early learning, and emergency response.
Giving a voice to the most vulnerable through legal aid, social services, and family reintegration support.
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