Executive summary

In 2024, humanitarian coordination structures under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) were active in 30 operations across 29 locations. These included responses to both protracted crises and sudden-onset emergencies, with three System-Wide Scale-Ups in Sudan (August 2023-December 2025), Lebanon (October 2024–April 2025) and Syria (December 2024–June 2025).

The Pulse of Coordination 2024 focuses on how IASC coordination mechanisms functioned across humanitarian operations in 2024. However, given the immediate impact of severe funding cuts that began in early 2025, it also provides projections regarding cluster coordination capacities in 2025. In so doing, the Pulse of Coordination 2024 captures both the humanitarian system prior to the seismic changes that unfolded in 2025, as well as foreshadowing changes to humanitarian coordination that would unfold in the year ahead.

Key trends in 2024 included:

• Humanitarian coordination structures under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) were active in 30 operations across 29 locations. These included responses to both protracted crises and sudden-onset emergencies, with three System-Wide Scale-Ups in Sudan (August 2023-December 2025), Lebanon (October 2024–April 2025) and Syria (December 2024–June 2025).
• Clusters coordinated over 19,000¹ humanitarian partner organizations globally. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continued to represent the largest group of humanitarian partners participating in cluster coordination (77 per cent), with local/national NGOs (L/NNGOs) representing the largest share (47 per cent), followed by international NGOs (INGOs) accounting for 30 per cent. Other stakeholders—United Nations organizations (7 per cent), local or national authorities (5 per cent), Red Cross/Red Crescent (3 per cent), donors (5 per cent), and others (5 per cent)—had representation mirroring 2023 trends.
• Local and national actors had greater representation and leadership in coordination, compared to 2023. In Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs), local/national NGOs held 11 per cent of seats, up from 10 per cent in 2023. Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCGs) were also increasingly inclusive, with local/national NGOs participating in 56 per cent of ICCGs. When including all types of local/national actors² (L/NA) there was participation in 85 per cent of ICCGs (up from 75 per cent in 2023). The number of LNAs participating in ICCGs globally also increased from 32 to 40, although below the 2022 peak of 58. Additionally, L/NNGOs held cluster leadership positions (co-coordinator, co-facilitator, co-chair) in 16 operations (up from 15 in 2022 and 2023), reflecting continued efforts to strengthen local leadership in coordination mechanisms.
• After several consecutive years of growth, HCTs averaged 32 members in 2024 (the lowest since 2021 when HCTs averaged 30 members), suggesting a tentative trend toward streamlining. In contrast, Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCGs) continued to grow, averaging 37 members (up from 34 in 2023), with Myanmar (69), Afghanistan (64), and Chad (62) hosting the largest ICCGs.
• Prior to the significant funding cuts announced in early 2025, dedicated cluster coordination capacity stood at only 64 per cent, with no operation reporting full coverage by the end of 2024. In Sudan—where an IASC System-Wide Scale-Up remained in place—capacity rose from 77 per cent to 92 per cent. However, in Myanmar and Ukraine, previously at 100 per cent, dropped to 90 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively. Madagascar (13 per cent) and Niger (10 per cent) reported the lowest capacities.
• Dedicated cluster coordinator capacity at subnational levels remained extremely low, falling from 31 per cent in 2023 to 25 per cent in 2024, with the vast majority (61 per cent) of cluster coordinators at subnational level double hatting.
• Information Management (IM) capacity for clusters declined slightly to 50 per cent in 2024 (from 52 per cent in 2023), with 9 per cent of clusters reporting no dedicated IM support. Madagascar and Cameroon, for example, had no dedicated IM capacity in 2024.
• Subnational coordination mechanisms were a key feature of humanitarian responses globally, with different models in use across operations, including subnational HCTs, subnational ICCGs and area-based coordination. The number of subnational HCT locations surveyed decreased from 52 to 47. In contrast, subnational ICCGs saw a slight increase, with 79 active groups reported across 21 operations, and the highest number reported in Sudan (8). Area-based coordination models were reported in 52 per cent of operations, down from 71 per cent in 2023. However, this was primarily the result of no reporting on area-based coordination in Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and others. While the number of countries reporting area-based coordination mechanisms fell, the number of locations reported to be covered by active area-based coordination increased from 175 to 216.
• Dedicated cluster coordinator capacity at subnational levels, however, remained extremely low, falling from 31 per cent to 25 per cent, and with the vast majority (61 per cent) of cluster coordinators at subnational level double hatting. The number of thematic subgroups under HCTs and ICCGs and technical working groups (TWGs) under clusters declined, continuing a downward trend since 2020and indicating greater streamlining of structures. Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Food Security clusters had the most technical working groups. The number of thematic subgroups under HCTs and ICCGs fell to 205, from 225 in 2023, with 6 thematic subgroups on average in each operation in 2024, down from 8. in 2023. Community Engagement and Accountability to Affected People, Cash and Voucher Assistance, Access, and Information Management were the most frequently established thematic subgroups, with Gender being the only subgroup to increase in number. Health, Nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), and Food Security clusters had the most cluster TWGs.

Cluster Coordination Capacity Projections in 2025

Given the drastic funding cuts that started in early 2025, the Pulse of Coordination for 2024 exceptionally captured forward-looking projections of cluster coordination capacity for 2025/26. Global Cluster Coordinators were requested in June and August 2025 to provide data on projected cluster capacity through to January 2026, based on what was known to them at the time. The data was collected with full recognition that the entire humanitarian sector was under significant strain and had experienced significant cuts in staffing and programming cuts, in some cases as high as 40 per cent.

Global Cluster Coordinators projections for cluster capacity by the end of 2025 (36 per cent for coordinators and 25 per cent for IMOs) suggest the lowest levels since systematic tracking was introduced (2018) and possibly since the early years of the cluster approach. This builds on an already suboptimal base for dedicated cluster coordinators and dedicated cluster IMO capacity in 2024 (69 per cent and 63 per cent respectively). The projected cuts of 56 per cent for coordinators and 64 per cent for IMOs are deeper than overall cuts across the system (when comparing 2024 data to 2025 projections).

This downward trend poses a serious risk to the ability of clusters to support timely, coordinated, and effective humanitarian responses in 2025 and beyond, and an inherent risk of a hollowing out of the cluster approach. These reductions, coupled with an increasing reliance on double-hatting, short-term surge deployments, and the downgrading of coordinator roles, pose serious risks to coordination quality, institutional memory, and local partner inclusion during critical transition periods. At least four operations are forecasted to operate with 10 per cent or less dedicated coordinator capacity, and at least four operations are projected to have no dedicated IM Officer capacity.