Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the world’s second-most disaster-prone region. The persistent threat and cyclical impact of natural hazards run parallel to structural poverty and inequality, endemic violence, struggling economies and limited government response capacities.

Humanitarian Response Plans

Limbé, Haiti, Dozimène’s house has flooded twice due to climate-related disasters. 

Haiti

Haiti
30 November 2022

In 2022, climate shocks linked to La Niña, droughts, floods, earthquakes, landslides, tropical storms and hurricanes affected millions of people in several countries. As households across the region continued to struggle to bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has drained governments’ resources, the effects of the conflict in Ukraine spurred an increase in fuel and food prices, severely affecting livelihoods and exacerbating food insecurity. Following the trend initiated in 2021, the flow of irregular migrants transiting through South and Central America increased exponentially throughout 2022, triggered by political, social and economic deterioration in several countries in the region. The current surge in migration is overwhelming countries’ reception capacities and fuelling an unprecedented rise in humanitarian and protection needs.

In 2022, the pandemic’s lingering effects in LAC — the region most affected by the pandemic — continued to impact the most vulnerable people, including women and children. Women in the Americas have been disproportionately impacted by increased gender inequality in development and health, including aggravated maternal mortality. LAC also hosts three out of five children worldwide who missed a year of school during the pandemic, becoming the region with the largest increase in the learning poverty rate. Those effects were compounded by the impact of several disasters, including climate-induced shocks such as droughts and floods. The cumulative effects of excessive rainfall and hurricanes aggravated the already complicated humanitarian situation for millions of people. In Central America, about 2.4 million people were affected by hazards directly associated with Hurricane Julia, adding to the dozens of people killed and the millions already affected amid an active rainy season. Hurricane Julia’s trajectory was similar to that of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, which devastated parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in November 2020, affecting many of the same communities still reeling from the impact of the back-to-back hurricanes. Overall, the 2022 rainy season affected more than 188,000 people in Honduras and more than 7.2 million in Guatemala, the equivalent of 40 per cent of these countries population. The anticipated impact of those events on food security is particularly concerning.

Honduras

Las Manos, border with Nicaragua, Honduras

Migrants illegally cross the border with Nicaragua, on their way to reach the USA.

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

The effects of the conflict in Ukraine on global oil and grain markets are unravelling in a region where food insecurity has increased the fastest in recent years, driven by the combination of worsening socioeconomic conditions, recurrent extreme weather events and the rising prices on world markets. The number of moderately to severely food-insecure people rose to more than 267 million in 2021, but this figure could increase by as much as 640,000 by the end of 2022. Northern Central America, in particular, is a hotspot of food and nutrition insecurity. In Guatemala and Honduras alone, more than 7.2 million people are projected to face acute levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse) between May and September 2022.

In Haiti, about 4.7 million people - almost half of the population - now face acute hunger, and for the first time, some 19,000 people in the country are suffering Catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5). In the English-speaking Caribbean, the number of people estimated to be moderately to severely food insecure rose by 46 per cent between March and August 2022, with nearly 4.1 million people, or 57 per cent of the population, now facing food insecurity.

In South America’s Gran Chaco lowlands – an area that spans often-neglected parts of Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay – humanitarian partners estimate that up to 1.2 million people exposed to the area’s worst drought in 80 years may require humanitarian assistance. Exacerbated by La Niña, the drought is unfolding in a context of pre-existing vulnerabilities, where long distances and poor road conditions pose a major challenge in terms of access to basic services.

Haiti

Limbé, Haiti

Dozimène’s house has flooded twice due to climate-related disasters.

WFP/Theresa Piorr

Countries are facing preparedness challenges as climate-related events show shifting patterns, such as the late onset of the Atlantic hurricane season and more powerful and devastating hurricanes. Additionally, mounting debt in LAC – the world’s most indebted region — limits access to financing, and growing fiscal deficits leave governments and communities less economically resilient in the face of future shocks.

Caribbean Small Island Developing States, in particular, are among the world’s most disaster-prone countries and territories, with climate change making hydrometeorological events increasingly more frequent and intense. Each year the hurricane season presents severe threats, potentially displacing thousands or even millions of people in a region where countries and territories are up to seven times more likely to experience a disaster than larger States and incur as much as six times more damage.

Displacement presents ever greater challenges for LAC. It hosts more migrants per capita than any other region, with 18.4 million refugees, asylum-seekers, displaced and stateless people registered. As desperation grows across the region, people continue to use increasingly more dangerous, irregular migratory routes. After nearly 1,240 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded in the Americas in 2021 – the highest number on record — almost 500 missing migrants were registered between January and September 2022, a year that could be the deadliest for migrants crossing at the US-Mexico border, where the US authorities have reported record numbers of encounters.

Aid in Action

Central America - Humanitarian needs

OCHA

In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, humanitarian needs are growing due to continuing poverty, the ongoing effects of COVID-19, extreme weather, chronic violence and limited services. Humanitarians are targeting millions with essential supplies.

By October 2022, more than 150,000 migrants had crossed the dangerous Darién jungle that straddles the Colombia-Panama border, surpassing the record number for the whole of 2021 (133,726). Venezuelans accounted for more than 70 per cent (112,943) of these new arrivals, followed by Haitians, Ecuadorians and Cubans. The increasing trend in numbers of people transiting through the Nicaragua-Honduras border continues, where the number of registered arrivals up to August 2022 was five times the total number of crossings registered for 2021.

Mexico and Central American countries have registered record numbers of asylum applications, with more than 86,000 applications lodged in Mexico by September 2022.

Across the region, the increasing number of people on the move continues to put significant pressure on reception capacities, including the availability of protection services and shelter capacities. Governments are struggling to keep pace with rapidly growing humanitarian needs and protection risks faced by migrants, including sexual and gender-based violence or human trafficking especially affecting women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities and LGBTIQ+.

As one of the world’s most violent regions, LAC saw chronic violence rise to pre-pandemic levels as pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, with a surge in homicide rates since 2021. The region has 14 of the 25 countries in the world with the highest female homicide rates; the regional rate of 4.6 female homicides per every 100,000 women is double that of the global rate of 2.3. Six countries alone represent 81 per cent of global cases of sexual and gender-based violence. LAC is also home to the top five countries in the world with the highest homicide rates among children and adolescents; the regional homicide rate of 12.6 per 100,000 among minors is four times the global average of three homicides per 100,000.

Colombia

El Chocó, Colombia

María Victoria, an Afro-descendant trans woman, has worked for the rights of the LGBTI population for nine years through the organization she leads, Latidos Chocó.

UNHCR/Catalina Betancur Sánchez

As a result of this multidimensional crisis, the number of people in need in the region maintains its upward trend, from 27.9 million in 2022 to 29.2 million in 2023. One million more people in Northern Central America require critical humanitarian assistance compared to the previous year, and 300,000 more in Haiti. The number of people targeted to receive assistance rose from 13.4 million in 2022 to 14.7 million in 2023. While overall funding increased in 2022, growing requirements were not met, with only about 35 per cent of the Humanitarian Response Plans funded by November.

In 2023, economic activity in the region is projected to slow to 1.4 per cent, down from a projected 3.2 per cent for 2022 as the conflict in Ukraine continues to generate negative spillover effects.

Multidimensional vulnerabilities and increasingly interconnected protection risks and humanitarian needs are likely to continue and even worsen in 2023. They include food insecurity, recurrent disasters exacerbated by climate change, displacement within and across borders and chronic violence, aggravating sectoral needs such as food security and nutrition, protection, WASH and health.

Colombia

  • Current People in Need
    7.7 million
  • Current People Targeted
    1.6 million
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $283.3 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
7.7 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
1.6 million
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
280 million
Total Population
51.5 million
Income level
Upper middle income
INFORM Severity Index
5.4 / High
Consecutive appeals
2020 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

Over the past decade, Colombia has made significant development and peacebuilding efforts. Despite this progress, the confluence of increased internal armed conflict and violence in remote areas within the country; an increase in climate-related disasters; surging socioeconomic needs generated by COVID-19; and the limited institutional capacities to attend to the massive arrival of refugees and migrants has led to a deterioration of Colombia’s humanitarian context, leaving an estimated 7.7 million people in need.

Since 2021, there has been a heightened escalation of hostilities within Colombia, particularly in the Pacific Coast as well as border areas, due to the continuous territorial expansion and actions of non-State armed groups (NSAGs). By November 2022, humanitarian actors have reported 195 conflict-related events leading to mass displacement (143 events) or confinements (52 events) of civilians, affecting more than 162,000 people. These numbers suffer from significant underreporting. The Government’s Victims Unit reported 111 mass displacement events with 49,407 victims, and 28 confinement events with 30,995 victims. Colombia’s rural areas remain the most affected, with an estimated 7.2 million people living in areas under the presence, influence or control of NSAGs and exposed to serious protection risks. These include high levels of conflict-related sexual violence (the Government’s Victims Unit recorded 666 such cases in 2022); the increase of recruitment and use of boys, girls and adolescents, including those of Venezuelan nationality (the national Ombudsman issued 26 alerts highlighting this risk in 2022); and the use of mines and the risks of unexploded ordnance, which continues to disproportionately affect civilians. There is also a high risk of attacks on child-protection system services, such as schools.

Colombia

Córdoba, Colombia

A gender round table at the Equipo Local de Coordinación in the Tierralta.

Heartland Alliance International/Carolina-García

A significant number of people affected by disasters – particularly flood-related disasters – was also noted, as the impact of La Niña has affected over 500,000 people up to November 2022. One of the biggest crises was in the northern region of La Mojana, where severe and prolonged flooding is affecting access to basic goods and services for an estimated 166,000 people. An estimated 120,000 people were affected by the passing of Tropical Storm Julia in La Guajira.

Increasingly, the impact of hostilities and disasters converge in rural areas where local State actors face limited capacities to respond to the population’s needs. The people affected are also the poorest and most vulnerable communities, particularly Indigenous and Afro-Colombian peoples. In addition, the influx of millions of refugees and migrants has added a burden on host communities, predominantly in already fragile settings already affected by internal conflict and climate change emergencies, and where refugees and migrants also reside.

Humanitarian actors continued to complement State efforts to respond to affected people’s needs, particularly in hard-to-reach areas and areas of high concentration of IDPs or vulnerable populations.

A new Government took office in August 2022, announcing a bold agenda to promote ‘Total Peace’ across the nation’s territories, including through a greater implementation of the 2016 Peace Agreement, and to promote social equity, and economic and environmental justice. As the new Government plan is in development stages, efforts are being made to promote participation and inclusive dialogues, emphasizing territorial approaches with a protection, human-security and victim-centred approach. The new Government also took quick steps to re-establish diplomatic relations with neighbouring Venezuela, which is expected to have a positive impact for the population crossing or living along the border. The Government also adopted a renewed approach of collaboration with multilateral organizations. These efforts of the Government will be supported by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), led by the Humanitarian Coordinator, to promote an enhanced response to the needs of affected populations across Colombia, particularly the most vulnerable.

Colombia

Norte de Santander, Colombia

An inter-agency mission to the Bari community.

UNHCR/Claudia Toro

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

Welcoming the Government’s new policies and its quick efforts to pursue solutions for people affected by conflict, disasters and socioeconomic hardship, there is a common recognition that the implementation and fruits of these policies may take some time. As such, Government plans include short-term humanitarian response efforts for affected people and longer-term plans to address structural causes.

Equally, humanitarian actors will be prepared to provide complementary humanitarian assistance for people who may continue to be affected by internal conflict or disasters in 2023. NSAGs’ control of and pressure towards civilians is expected to continue in much of the country’s periphery, which will likely impact the protection of communities and their ability to access basic goods, services and livelihoods. It is expected this will remain the case, even if hostilities among NSAGs subside through a multilateral ceasefire. Mixed migration flows across the continent and the slow return of refugees will continue to produce a heavy burden on people on the move and host communities.

It is expected that La Niña and associated heavy rainy seasons will continue to generate new emergencies, as well as aggravate the existing ones, while exacerbating the needs of affected communities.

Humanitarian access constraints, which have been increasing in the last years, are also expected to become even more challenging.

Colombia

La Mojana, Colombia

Following large-scale floods, it now takes students two hours to walk to school along improvised bridges. Most children did not attend school, as they helped their parents to repair their homes. 

OCHA/Laura Andrea Arias Montoya

Response priorities in 2023

In 2022, the HCT, through the significant efforts of its partners and donors, managed to assist over 1 million people through intersectoral assistance that includes prevention, risk management, assistance and creative solutions. It also expanded its geographical reach in hard-to-reach areas mostly affected by the presence of NSAGs.

Based on identified needs, priorities in 2023 will continue to include areas affected by conflict as well as disasters (double affectation), with a particular focus on municipalities with limited response capacities, hard-to-reach areas of difficult access for institutions, and on the most vulnerable population groups, with an emphasis on children, women and ethnic minority communities.

The HCT’s strategy will remain focused on 1) rapid response to emergencies for life-saving purposes while attempting to enhance prevention and protection efforts, and 2) contributing to recovery, solutions and community capacity-building for the restoration of victims’ rights and the socioeconomic stabilization of people in a situation of vulnerability. These efforts are underpinned by a cross-cutting protection focus.

Priority areas will remain the Pacific Coast, areas of recurrent emergencies, and border areas where the confluence of internal conflict and disasters is felt the most. However, humanitarian actors will continue to closely monitor dynamics in the Amazonia Orinoquia and the northern Caribbean belt linking the Pacific to the border with Venezuela, due to NSAGs’ increasing actions in these areas during 2022. The HCT developed a dedicated Pacific Coast Strategy and a strategy to enhance tailored humanitarian efforts in Indigenous communities as an annex to the Humanitarian Response Plan to focus on the most affected population groups and geographical areas.

Humanitarian actors’ access to affected communities, and the population’s access to basic services, goods and livelihoods will also remain a priority for 2023, considering the significant increase in the number of incidents of impediments to humanitarian access in 2022 (103 incidents against humanitarian actors have been identified as per November 2022), and considering the 2.9 million Colombians affected by various mobility restrictions.

El Salvador

  • Current People in Need
    1.1 million
  • Current People Targeted
    496.6 thousand
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $98.4 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
1.1 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
496,600
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
98.4 million
Total Population
6.3 million
Income level
Lower middle income
INFORM Severity Index
4.3 / Medium
Consecutive appeals
2021 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

El Salvador is among the countries most affected by weather-related hazards worldwide, incurring annual losses of around 2.5 per cent of GDP. Changes in rainfall patterns and more intense drought and floods cause significant losses in agriculture and livestock. Over the past three decades, the impacts of climate change have cost the Salvadoran economy more than US$2.2 billion in lost productivity, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. Without immediate action to curb the impacts of climate change, El Salvador’s GDP could fall by up to 7 per cent by 2030.

El Salvador has historically experienced alarming levels of violence, which have been curbed by a state of exception (emergency decree) that came into effect in late March 2022 on the heels of a spike in violence. Over the following six months, more than 50,000 people were arrested under the emergency decree, leading to accusations of human rights violations.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development has identified El Salvador as the Latin American country most vulnerable to the impacts of the war in Ukraine. Since February 2022, the price of oil, cereals and wheat has increased by 58.1 per cent, 37.3 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

A heavier than usual rainy season and the recurrent impact of tropical storms in 2022, on top of an already heavily soiled terrain, will significantly impact crop production and consequently levels of food insecurity and malnutrition.

El Salvador

San Salvador, El Salvador

Estefanía, a trans woman, attends a meeting at DIKE, a non-profit organization that fights for LGBT+ rights.

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

Forecasts indicate a continuation of or an increase in needs. According to the 2022 INFORM Risk Index, El Salvador, with a score of 4.3 (scale of 0 to 10), is the sixty-fifth country most at risk out of the 190 countries analysed. The increase in climate change-related events and increasingly frequent social shocks will continue to affect populations living in rural and peri-urban areas the most.

According to the IPC analysis for El Salvador, during the first half of 2023, high food prices and climatic events will directly affect food access and availability. This may exacerbate food insecurity and aggravate the nutritional situation, especially for the most vulnerable children. At the national level, 28,000 people (about 1 per cent of the population) will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 639,000 people (10 per cent of the population) in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). Access to fertilizers for small and medium producers is increasingly limited, which is likely to affect crop yields in 2022 and 2023. Given the escalating cost of agricultural inputs, severe impacts on livelihoods and food security are expected due to lower staple grains production, with an estimated decline of up to 20 per cent for the 2022-2023 crop cycle.

El Salvador

La Arenera, San Vicente Department, El Salvador

Iris and her husband, Manuel, tend to their guayaba tree farm. 

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

The nutritional situation In El Salvador has been highly influenced by the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19. Other common hydro-meteorological phenomena, such as tropical storms, hurricanes and droughts, are an underlying cause of irregular migration. The loss of income and sources of employment implies less access to the basic food basket for families and an increase in multidimensional poverty. The current inflation translates into higher prices for the basic food basket, which will translate into higher rates of nutritional problems and preventable diseases for the coming months.

Increased humanitarian needs may lead to an escalation in the rate of violence against women, risks of gender-based violence (GBV) and a higher demand for care services. Women — especially women of childbearing age, girls and adolescents, women with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ persons, heads of single-parent households, survivors of GBV, migrants, displaced women, refugees and returnees, and rural or Indigenous women affected by poverty, malnutrition and climatic emergencies — are exposed to environments that place them at greater risk of being victims of violence.

Response priorities in 2023

In 2023, the humanitarian community seeks to assist 496,600 of the most vulnerable people (around 45 per cent of people in need), requiring $98.4 million for the response. The People in need number for 2023 is lower than in previous years as the total population data has been updated, reflecting a decrease. Some response sectors have also seen their needs reduced, including Health with a reduction of people in need from 998,210 to 247,279, while other response sectors have increased their needs.

The Humanitarian Response Plan is based on the collectively identified shocks that trigger humanitarian needs – violence, climate change, migration flows, and food and nutritional insecurity. The activities will provide an intersectoral response to these shocks and their humanitarian consequences, with a focus on the most vulnerable people. The activities are designed to ensure complementarity with the development projects in-country and complement the ongoing efforts of the Government.

Guatemala

  • Current People in Need
    5 million
  • Current People Targeted
    2.3 million
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $126.1 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
5 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
2.3 million
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
125.4 million
Total Population
17.3 million
Income level
Upper middle income
INFORM Severity Index
5.1 / High
Consecutive appeals
2021 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

Guatemala is enduring a complex humanitarian crisis generated by overlapping shocks and impacts — sudden and slow onset, short and long term — affecting more than a third of the population (6.4 million people).

Historically, natural hydro-meteorological and geological events have triggered disasters in large areas of Guatemala. In the past decade, pockets of food and nutrition insecurity have emerged in certain regions, starting in the eastern part of the Dry Corridor and expanding to almost two thirds of the national territory. Droughts, largely attributed to climate change, as well as other socioeconomic factors are at the root of the crisis. In addition, human mobility, in all its manifestations, has considerably increased the impact on previously affected populations.

Around 4.6 million people – more than a quarter of the population – require food assistance, a fourfold increase since 2019. Malnutrition is becoming increasingly common in urban areas, as opposed to the traditional remote and rural settings, amid internal migration and growing poverty, falling incomes and limited access to health services in urban outskirts. Stunting from chronic undernutrition affects nearly 43 per cent of children under age 5 — the highest rate across the region and the sixth highest in the world — with prevalence rates in rural and Indigenous communities more than 50 per cent higher than national averages.

In 2022, above-normal rainfall continues to affect large swaths of the country, aggravating an already dire livelihood and food insecurity situation. As of November 2022, more than 7 million people have been affected during the current rainy season, nearly triple the population affected during 2021. Prolonged saturation of soils, sinking roads, collapsed drains and landslides continue to hinder humanitarian access and operations in and around the Guatemala City metropolitan area.

Guatemala

Guaraquiche, Chiquimula, Guatemala

Maria, 40, is a single mother. She fends for herself and her three children by trekking up to the mountain ridges and cutting firewood to sell at the market.  

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

In 2022, the main shocks driving humanitarian needs are food and nutrition insecurity, human mobility and hydro-meteorological disasters caused by extreme weather.

The total number of people in need increased from 3.8 million in 2021 to 5 million in 2023. The most dramatic increases were in the Food Security and Protection sectors. Food and nutrition needs are at their highest historical levels. Some 4.6 million people are food insecure and need immediate attention, mostly subsistence and sub-subsistence farming households and households with minimal or no income. Some 1.9 million people have humanitarian needs related to acute malnutrition, including children under age 5, women of childbearing age, pregnant women, older adults and people with disabilities. It is estimated that conditions negatively impacting food security will not change significantly, so needs would remain the same over the next year. Regarding the human mobility crisis, reports indicate that the number of returnees from Mexico and the United States is on the rise compared to previous years. This trend is expected to continue along with national and international protection needs for people on the move and host communities.

Women, girls and LGBTIQ+ persons in human mobility are at higher risk of sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Young men and boys have a high exposure to recruitment into organized crime. Unaccompanied children and adolescents are at higher risk of sexual exploitation, labour exploitation and other forms of violence. Nearly 11,000 unaccompanied and separated children and adolescents were returned from the United States and Mexico between January 2021 and May 2022.

Guatemala

Tierra Blanca, Guatemala

This maize farmer is learning how to plant different grains to diversify his livelihood and protect against the effects of climate change and global economic shocks on staple crops. 

OCHA/Marc Belanger

Response priorities in 2023

In 2023, the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will respond to the most pressing humanitarian needs of 2.3 million people, the equivalent of 46 per cent of the 5 million people in need. The HCT set this target based on agreed priorities within the operating context and on the capacities of humanitarian actors in the country. The financial requirements are US$125.4 million.

The Humanitarian Response Plan is based on the collectively identified shocks that drive humanitarian needs in Guatemala – food insecurity and acute malnutrition, human mobility, and disasters and remnants of Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The prioritized response activities will provide an intersectoral response to these shocks and their humanitarian consequences, focusing on the most vulnerable people. The activities are designed to ensure complementarity with the development projects in-country and complement the ongoing efforts of the Government.

Haiti

  • Current People in Need
    5.2 million
  • Current People Targeted
    3.2 million
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $719.9 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
5.2 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
3 million
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
714.8 million
Total Population
11.7 million
Income level
Lower middle income
INFORM Severity Index
6.5 / Very High
Consecutive appeals
2010 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

Haiti is experiencing a political, economic and humanitarian crisis coupled with high levels of insecurity and violence. The control the armed gangs exert, coupled with poor economic governance, has paralysed economic and social life.

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on 7 July 2021, Haiti has faced a political vacuum and deadlock. In parallel, it has experienced four years of negative economic growth, with skyrocketing inflation rates reaching 30 per cent at its peak, in July 2022. The price of the food basket increased by 63 per cent over a year and was combined with the global increase of fuel and gas prices, which has further increased the prices of imported goods.

The Government’s decision to suspend oil subsidies set off large-scale and sometimes violent nationwide protests and blockades. Since mid-September, armed groups have controlled the fuel shortage, culminating in the blockade of the oil terminal in Varreux, which holds 70 per cent of Haiti’s fuel supplies. This has, in turn, cut off supplies, which led to alarming restrictions in water distribution, power supply and telecommunications, causing hospitals to operate at less than half their capacity.

Cholera resurged in early October, after three years with no cases in the country. This comes as living conditions steadily deteriorate and access to basic services is largely suspended. Humanitarian access continues to be a challenge, which has impacted the response to the cholera outbreak and other pressing humanitarian needs.

Haiti

Cité Soleil, Haiti

People line up for a food distribution.

WFP/Theresa Piorr

While affecting the whole population, the outbreak has had a particularly devastating impact on the most vulnerable people, particularly children, who constitute half of the number of cholera cases. The majority of cases have been recorded in the poorest neighbourhoods of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, but suspected cases have been reported in eight out of ten departments.

Severe food insecurity increased in 2022, with almost half the population facing acute hunger, including 1.8 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). For the first time ever in Haiti, 19,200 people suffer from catastrophic hunger (Phase 5) in the densely populated commune of Cité Soleil. Food security continued to deteriorate in rural areas.

Malnutrition exceeds emergency thresholds, particularly in areas affected by gang violence. For example, UNICEF reports that 20 per cent of children under age 5 in Cité Soleil suffer from acute malnutrition, including 5 per cent of severe acute malnutrition.

Women, children, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing crisis. They have limited access to health and WASH services, with women giving birth with no medical assistance in makeshift displacement sites, and children under age 15 comprising many of the cholera cases. Sexual and gender-based violence (GBV) remains a serious concern. Armed gangs have used rape, including collective rapes, and other forms of sexual violence to instil fear, and to punish, subjugate and inflict pain on local populations, with the goal of expanding their areas of influence throughout Port-au-Prince. Children continue to be at risk of recruitment by gangs, and young girls are resorting to sex work to help feed themselves and their families.

Haiti

Beaumont, Haiti

After the August 2021 earthquake, Save the Children built semi-permanent schools to replace the collapsed schools so that children could quickly resume their education.

OCHA/Christian Cricboom

Schools in Haiti have not reopened for the 2022-2023 scholastic year due to persistent insecurity, violence and fuel scarcity affecting around 4 million children.

Gang violence has led to new waves of internal displacement, with the International Organization for Migration reporting a record 113,000 internally displaced persons living in sites or with host families, often in precarious conditions.

The migration crisis continues its upward trend as Haitians seek to reach other countries. Forced repatriations by land also continued after the cholera outbreak began, including at the border with the Dominican Republic.

In this dire situation, humanitarian partners have seen their operations curtailed due to insecurity, access and fuel restrictions, supply constraints and rising operational costs. During the period of social unrest in September and October 2022, humanitarian stocks and facilities were targeted and looted, resulting in the loss of more than US$7 million worth of supplies across the country.

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

The impact of the current political and security situation on humanitarian needs makes it difficult to project developments into 2023. The upward or downward trend will largely depend on the following intertwined factors: a political agreement being reached to pave the way for free and fair elections and democratic reform; violence and insecurity reducing, and the impact of the potential deployment of a rapid action force by the Security Council, as requested by the Haitian Government; and sufficient funding and humanitarian access that enable humanitarians and their partners to address urgent humanitarian needs. The deployment of international forces may bring relative stability and improve humanitarian access, but that access could be severely hindered in the initial stages. Moreover, despite this support, insecurity is likely to remain latent.

In the scenario where UN Member States decide not to send support to the Haitian National Police, the security situation is expected to deteriorate, and the fuel supply and access will remain limited. This will hamper the community response, which could lead to a further expansion of the cholera epidemic. In a very insecure environment, it will be difficult to hold elections, and the recession and inflation are likely to continue to worsen.

Haiti

Les Cayes, Haiti

Discussions with beneficiaries who lost their homes in the August 2021 earthquake.  

WFP/Theresa Piorr

In the event of international intervention, the eventual restoration of access and security could lead to a slow but gradual improvement in people's lives and livelihoods. Cholera could be contained more effectively, and catastrophic levels of food insecurity addressed. The unblocking of the national road to Haiti’s southern peninsula could enable the population in the south to regain their livelihoods.

However, if stabilization cannot be achieved, the consequences could be catastrophic not only in terms of cholera, but also food insecurity, malnutrition and displacement, as well as access to basic services such as education, WASH, health and protection (including GBV).

In addition, Haiti could face climatic hazards and risks related to natural threats.

In both scenarios, it is expected that more than 5.2 million people (46 per cent of the population) will need humanitarian assistance.

While the entire country is exposed to multiple vulnerabilities, these will intensify in areas where there are overlapping crisis factors, such as gang-controlled neighbourhoods in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, regions with a high level of food insecurity, and the southern peninsula, which has been cut off from the capital for over 18 months.

Response priorities in 2023

Between 22 July and 28 October 2022, UN agencies provided water to 2,000 people for three months and distributed food to around 65,000 people in Cité Soleil, one of the poorest gang-controlled areas of the capital. Expanded humanitarian access to other neighbourhoods that urgently need assistance may be achieved. More than a year after the 14 August 2021 earthquake in the south, almost 97 per cent of the 500,000 people targeted by the earthquake response plan have received assistance. However, as the affected departments have been cut off from the capital since June 2021, reconstruction efforts remain extremely difficult. Overall, some access and security issues hinder the implementation of humanitarian interventions.

In 2023, humanitarian partners, in support of the Government, will aim to target 3 million of the 5.2 million people who need humanitarian assistance. A priority for the response will be the provision of health and WASH services to prevent the spread of and response to the cholera outbreak through a community-based approach. Food and livelihoods assistance is urgently needed for people living in IPCs 4 and 5, and partially for people in IPC 3. Another priority is the provision of protection services, including psychosocial and health support for children and survivors of sexual violence. Humanitarian access must be maintained and expanded to allow humanitarian actors to provide life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable people living in gang-controlled and remote areas.

Continued efforts will be made to put Haitians at the centre of preparedness and response. Therefore, accountability and community engagement, inclusion of people with disabilities, gender equality, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, and localization will be put at the forefront. All actors will strengthen collaboration and synergies between humanitarian, development and peace projects and programmes , accountability to affected people, and anticipatory action.

Honduras

  • Current People in Need
    3.2 million
  • Current People Targeted
    2.1 million
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $280.4 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
3.2 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
2.1 million
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
280.4 million
Total Population
9.6 million
Income level
Lower middle income
INFORM Severity Index
5.1 / High
Consecutive appeals
2021 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

Honduras faces increasing multidimensional and overlapping risks in a context of extreme fragility, with political and social conflicts, the effects of climate change, forced displacement and migration.

In this context, humanitarian needs are driven by factors including high rates of poverty and extreme poverty, recurrent climate shocks, chronic violence, alarming rates of gender-based violence (GBV), limited access to basic services and the impacts of mixed movements. These sustained needs have formed a complex web of vulnerabilities that humanitarian action has sought to address with cross-sectoral approaches for several years.

At least 59 per cent of the population (4.9 million people), including women, live in poverty. Around 500,000 children (20 per cent of the total) are stunted amid growing food insecurity and high levels of inequality and violence that disproportionately affect women, girls, LGBTIQ+ populations, and people living in suburban or rural areas.

Some 4.6 million people continue to struggle to recover from the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricanes Eta and Iota in 2020. This is reflected in the country’s decrease in the Human Development Index; Honduras dropped from 132 out of 191 countries in 2020 to 137 in 2022, the second lowest (after Haiti) in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Honduras

Danlí, departamento de El Paraíso, Honduras

Migrants queue to register at a migration centre on their way to reach the USA. 

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

Rising inflation, especially on food prices, has strained the purchasing power of low‑income households, limiting their access to staple foods. In June 2022, the price of white maize jumped by 70 per cent, fertilizer by 88 per cent and energy by 30 per cent due to the global ramifications of the war in Ukraine. The growing cost-of-living crisis threatens to exacerbate an already dire food insecurity situation. Between June and August 2022, 2.6 million people faced Crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) – nearly triple the 962,000 people in IPC Phase 3 or above in February 2020 – including 353,000 people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). A heavier-than-usual rainy season and tropical storms caused floods and landslides in already soiled terrain in Honduras, displacing thousands of people and increasing the vulnerability of tens of thousands more.

As per November 2022, irregular migration flows have skyrocketed compared to previous years. The surge in returnees continues unabated, with an average of around 8,000 migrants returned to Honduras every month in 2022, already surpassing the number of returnees in 2021. The situation at the south-eastern border, where women, girls and LGBTIQ+ people face growing GBV risks, has overwhelmed the country's response capacities.

In 2021, the homicide rate stood at 38.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the regional average, placing Honduras behind only Jamaica and Venezuela as the most violent country in Latin America and the Caribbean. The femicide rate of 6.79 per 100,000 inhabitants is the highest across the region and nearly triple the global rate of 2.3 per 100,000, with physical, sexual and economic violence disproportionally affecting women and girls.

Honduras

Guaruama II, Honduras

Maritza and her daughter, Melissa, live near the Chamelecón River in north-west Honduras. They lost everything when the river flooded after Hurricanes Eta and Iota.

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

About 32 per cent of the population is in humanitarian need, and there is a strong possibility of further deterioration. Most of the remaining population requires restoration and sustainability of services to avoid falling into a humanitarian crisis.

Of the 3.2 million people in need, at least 1.6 million were identified with acute needs (severity level 4) and in a critical situation. Their risks are associated with morbidity and mortality, either due to the impacts of violence or lack of access to essential goods to cover their basic needs, and who require urgent attention in the short and medium term to avoid loss of life or deterioration.

More than 3.2 million people are expected to face crisis or worsening levels of acute food insecurity (IPC 3 or higher) from October 2022 to June 2023 – a sharp increase of 0.5 million compared to the same period last year. In contexts of emergencies, such as droughts, storms and the human mobility and displacement crisis, these situations can be exacerbated and impact the nutritional status of children under age 5, and pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Honduras

Danlí, departamento de El Paraíso, Honduras

Humanitarians distribute medical supplies for children at a hostel for migrants. 

OCHA/Vincent Tremeau

Response priorities in 2023

The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) in Honduras will seek to respond to the needs of 2.1 million people, requiring US$280.4 million. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is based on the collectively identified shocks that lead to humanitarian needs, namely climate change, violence, human mobility and food insecurity. The activities will provide an intersectoral response to these shocks and their humanitarian consequences, focusing on the most vulnerable people. The response activities are designed to ensure complementarity with the development projects in-country and complement the ongoing efforts of the Government.

The increase in requirements for the 2023 HRP is explained by the funding gap for the previous HRP (2021-2022); the conflict in Ukraine and its economic consequences, which impact the cost of aid delivery; and the increase of the population in need – from 2.8 million to 3.2 million.

Venezuela

  • Current People in Need
    7 million
  • Current People Targeted
    5.2 million
  • Current Requirements (US$)
    $719.6 million
People in Need at launch (Dec. 2022)
7 million
People Targeted at launch (Dec. 2022)
5.2 million
Requirements (US$) at launch (Dec. 2022)
795 million
Total Population
28.3 million
INFORM Severity Index
5 / High
Consecutive appeals
2019 - 2023

Analysis of the context, crisis and needs

In 2022, there have been signs of economic stabilization and growth in Venezuela. In August 2022, the central bank announced that the country’s economy had grown 17 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022, the highest growth in the Latin America region. However, despite these positive developments, it will take time for Venezuela to address important socioeconomic challenges. This is due to the large-scale economic contraction over the last eight years; the lack of fiscal space to address the structural causes that limit the provision of essential services, such as health care, clean water, education and energy supply; and the most vulnerable people still having limited access to economic opportunities to resolve their basic needs.

Feedback provided by communities living under the most vulnerable conditions indicates that access to food, livelihoods and health care is at the centre of people’s concerns and priorities. While food and non-food items are available in shops and markets, vulnerable families face difficulties in accessing these due to limited purchasing power in a context of rising prices and high inflation (reaching an accumulated 119.4 per cent between January and October 2022). Increases in the minimum salary (equivalent to US$25) are insufficient to cover the basic food basket, estimated at $350 in July 2022. This situation is exacerbated for people living in rural areas with reduced access to fuel, or for elderly people living on fixed incomes based on local currency. Food security and nutrition remain a priority, and while there have been some improvements, the prevalence of undernourishment remains high. Electricity and domestic gas remain unreliable sources of energy for cooking, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas, leading to the use of firewood.

In 2022, Venezuela has experienced several increases in the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths related to the Omicron variant. After a latest increase between June and July 2022, the trend has been decreasing since the beginning of August 2022. After supporting the national pandemic response, health priorities have focused on re-establishing essential health services, especially for chronic diseases, access to sexual and reproductive rights, and implementing the regular vaccination programme. The focus on COVID-19 also affected the epidemiological surveillance of re-emergent diseases, and underreporting is common. Teenage pregnancies remain a priority, as the adolescent fertility rate is estimated to reach 82 expected births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19 in 2022, representing more than double the regional rate. The pandemic also affected mental health issues, with partners reporting an increase in psychosocial support consultations, especially for children and adolescents. Health services continue to be affected by insufficient water and sanitation conditions and the lack of an electricity supply in health-care facilities.

Venezuela

Caracas, Venezuela

Children during classes at Las Mayas Fe y Alegría institution, on Oct. 28th, 2021. This is the first week back to in-person classes in Venezuela since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

UNICEF/Gustavo Vera

The return to in-person classes started on 25 October 2021. This has required significant support to ensure safe learning conditions in educational facilities (including rehabilitation and restoration of basic services), and support to teachers and to children and adolescents at risk of dropping out. While school-feeding programmes have been critical to promote attendance and retention, humanitarian partners continue to observe school dropouts, especially in adolescents, due to the need to look for work opportunities, or due to teenage pregnancies.

The lack of livelihood opportunities and access to basic services result in the most vulnerable people adopting negative coping mechanisms, such as reducing the number of meals or quantity of food, using unsafe water for drinking, or engaging in informal economic activities. As a result, these vulnerable communities, especially in areas affected by localized insecurity, face protection risks related to violence, exploitation and abuse, including human trafficking, where girls, boys and women are at particular risk. There also continues to be significant reports of gender-based violence, especially femicide and intimate-partner violence. Overall, these protection risks are exacerbated by the lack of available protection services to respond to survivors’ needs.

Mixed-migration flows continue, including people intending to leave, returnees and/or people engaged in pendular movements between Colombia and Venezuela. Most people that leave the country do so mainly in search of work opportunities, whilst those returning, an increasing trend, do so for family reunification purposes or due to difficulties faced in the host country.

The 2022 rainy season, intensified by climate change, heavily affected tens of thousands of people in more than 10 states due to overflowing rivers, landslides and floods destroying housing in high-risk areas. In October, landslides in the town of Las Tejerias, in Aragua State, killed at least 56 people and destroyed more than 750 houses. These rains also had negative impacts on small producers’ productive capacity, reducing access to productive lands, damaging small businesses and warehouses, and causing the loss of productive assets.

Venezuela

Amazonas State, Venezuela

Children eat lunch at a public school in Amazonas State, thanks to a food programme implemented by UNICEF.

OCHA/Héctor Pereira

Projected situation in 2023 and beyond

Economic projections indicate a 12 per cent GDP growth in 2022 and 5 per cent in 2023, well above regional estimates. National oil production increased to 692,000 barrels per day in August (a 24 per cent increase compared to the 2021 average), while international oil prices soared in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. These trends could generate more investments in essential services and economic recovery. However, they will be limited by the impact of broad sectoral sanctions and are unlikely to translate into immediate changes for the most vulnerable people, who will continue to face humanitarian needs.

Regarding migration trends, the announcement by the US Government on 12 October on joint actions with Mexico to reduce the number of Venezuelans arriving at the US border raises the likelihood of an increase in returns. The Colombian Government’s flexibilization of requirements on 8 October for Venezuelans coming into the country is also likely to increase mixed-migration flows between the two countries.

Other factors to consider are the impact of the war in Ukraine on global food prices, the ongoing recovery of the global transport industry, and the inflationary pressures on local and international currencies, which might further impact the ability of the most vulnerable Venezuelans to afford food.

The rainy season has intensified due to the impact of climate change. This will increase the risk of flooding and landslides for people living in high-risk areas, and continue to negatively impact their productive capacity and ability to access markets.

On 26 November, the Government and opposition resumed the dialogue and negotiation process facilitated by Norway in Mexico. They are to announce a social agreement that could see State resources frozen abroad invested in health, electricity, education and food security. If enough resources are mobilized and the agreement is implemented, this could lead to a reduction in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Venezuela

Amazonas, Venezuela

A woman from the Piaroa Indigenous ethnic group bathes a baby at a water point close to her house.

OCHA/Héctor Pereira

Response priorities in 2023

As of October 2022, the humanitarian response has reached 2.2 million people throughout the country, expanding to previously hard-to-reach priority States, such as Indigenous areas in Amazonas and Delta Amacuro, where there has been a significant increase in the number of humanitarian organizations, and in outreach to vulnerable populations in isolated communities.

The 2022-23 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) promotes a greater emphasis on intersectoral and sustainable interventions that include institutional, community and individual capacity-building, with the objective of improving the provision of essential services, restoring livelihoods and strengthening resilience. Priorities also include providing specialized assistance to ensure the physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of people affected by different forms of violence, as well as strengthening preparedness and response to natural disasters.

Access to and engagement with authorities have improved implementation rates. However, access issues continue to hinder the delivery of assistance, including logistical, administrative and bureaucratic impediments, insecurity in some areas, limited availability of fuel, problems in telecommunications services, and heavy rains impacting road access.

After a 50 per cent increase in humanitarian funding between 2020 and 2021, the humanitarian response has received US$287.9 million as of 24 November 2022, with the HRP only 36.2 per cent funded. Funding trends are expected to decrease in 2023, which will represent a major challenge for the implementation of a quality and at-scale response.

References

  1. Venezuela RMRP not included.
  2. Based on reported emergencies and follow-up by Local Coordination Team partners between January and September 2022 and Monitor-OCHA
  3. According to emergencies reported by members of the Local Coordination Teams, where local authorities requested complementary support in the response.
  4. Information validated between local authorities and the Local Coordination Team of Córdoba in the framework of the coordination of the response in the PMU: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/colombia/emergencia-la-mojana
  5. Information collected between local authorities and the Local Coordination Team of La Guajira, in the framework of the coordination of the response in the PMU and the needs assessments carried out.
  6. According to reports from different partners of the Humanitarian Country Team between January and September 19, 2022.
  7. OPS/OMS. Tablero de indicadores básicos. Tablero de los indicadores básicos | PAHO/EIH Open Data
  8. Reports by Colombian Migration and Brasilian Migration
  9. ECLAC, New Growth Projections for Latin America and the Caribbean 2022-2023, 19 October 2022.