Global Humanitarian Overview 2024 Monthly Updates

August update

Summary

Inter-Agency Coordinated Appeals: August Update

People in Need
311.3M
People Targeted
186.6M
Appeals
43
Requirements (US$)
$49B
Inter-Agency Appeals Funding (US$)
$14.46B
Appeals Coverage
29.5%
Total Humanitarian Funding (US$)
$19.43B

The 2024 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) requires $49 billion to assist 186.6 million of the people in need across 73 countries through 43 coordinated response plans.

More than $2.2 billion was reported during the month of August, bringing reported GHO funding to $14.5 billion. This is $1.36 billion or eight per cent less compared to the same time last year. Coverage of appeal requirements has reached 30 per cent, although 22 response plans are below the average. Meanwhile, the gap between the financial requirements and funding currently stands at more than $34.5 billion.

Total reported humanitarian funding has reached $19.4 billion, which is a decrease of around nine per cent compared to what was recorded last year at the same time ($21.4 billion).

Timely reporting of humanitarian contributions from donors and recipients is crucial to provide reliable and complete data for trend analysis. All partners are encouraged to report funding to the Financial Tracking Service (fts@un.org).

Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) planning and preparedness for winterization


As winter preparedness activities start in October, the situation of the population in Gaza is growing increasingly precarious, primarily because of the ongoing hostilities and resulting infrastructure damage. Winter is also the rainy season in Gaza, with most of the annual rainfall occurring during these months, which leads to flooding in some areas. Already dire living conditions will deteriorate further, putting hundreds of thousands at heightened risk of displacement, asset loss, health hazards, and limited access to essential services. Humanitarian partners have identified activities in the current Flash Appeal that are of the utmost priority between October and December. Interventions address the critical needs of over 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip during the winter months and potential flood events, including more than 850,000 people who are living in flood-prone areas. Key interventions include, among others, the provision of winterization supplies, including warm clothing, blankets tarpaulins and heating materials; facilitating access to emergency fuel for heaters; and support to operate critical health and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities and rapid WASH response to outbreak-prone communicable diseases. For more information, please contact: ochaopt@un.org.

Country Focus: Sudan and the Region

Sudan

Humanitarian Response Plan
People in Need
24.8M
People Targeted
14.7M
Requirements (US$)
$2.69B
Funding (US$)
$1.1B

Sudan was plunged into a conflict of alarming scale in mid-April 2023 when fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces broke out. While fighting was initially centred in the capital Khartoum, it quickly expanded to other areas across the country. The prolonged violence and insecurity have resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, extensive damage to critical infrastructure and facilities, as well as large-scale displacement, with over 10 million people displaced inside and out of Sudan. As a result, Sudan currently faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and the most significant child displacement crisis, with more than three million children displaced inside and outside the country.

The impact of conflict has been disastrous for civilians. Nearly one in three people in Sudan is acutely food insecure, and the already-fragile health system is in tatters, with looming disease outbreaks, including an alarming cholera outbreak, as well as dengue fever, measles, and malaria. Sudan faces the worst levels of acute food insecurity in its history, with more than half of its population – 25.6 million people – in acute hunger. That includes more than 8.5 million people facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC 4), as well as more than 755,000 people who are in catastrophic conditions (IPC 5) in Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Aj Jazirah, and Khartoum.

Despite some of the most challenging and dangerous circumstances, local and international organizations continue to deliver humanitarian assistance, reaching nearly eight million people during the first half of this year. However, humanitarian access to reach all vulnerable people throughout the country remains severely hampered by ongoing hostilities, attacks on humanitarian workers, and operational and administrative constraints.

The Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan for 2024 requires $2.7 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 14.7 million people in need. As of end-August, the plan is 41.1 per cent funded ($1.10 billion). Some sectors are covered much less than the average and face higher funding gaps: Nutrition (28.8 per cent); Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (26.4 per cent); Protection (22.5 per cent); WASH (21.6 per cent); Site Management (9.2 per cent); Education (nine per cent); Logistics (less than one per cent funded).

In anticipation of worsening food security conditions, humanitarian partners launched a Famine Prevention Plan (FPP) in April 2024. The plan targets 7.6 million people in acute need in priority areas in response to a famine early warning issued in March. While at least 5.6 million people (74 per cent of the target) received some form of assistance between May and July, the response falls short of meeting the acute needs. The Famine Prevention plan prioritizes a multisector approach, integrating food, nutrition, health and WASH response with other clusters. For more information please see: Sudan: Famine Prevention Snapshot, May - July 2024 | OCHA (unocha.org).

Since the beginning of the crisis in May 2023, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) have allocated $281.2 million ($101.3 million from CERF and $179.9 from the SHF) to ensure life-saving aid for 4.7 million and 4.6 million people, respectively, across Sudan. The allocations from the two funds ensure critical humanitarian support to the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict with much-needed health assistance, including sexual and reproductive services, shelter, water, food, and protection services.

On 25 September, in the margins of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, a High-level Event will be convened to strengthen support for the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region. For more information, please contact Ms. Patricia Nyimbae Agwaro at agwaro@un.org.

Regional Refugee Response Plan

People Targeted
3.3M
Requirements (US$)
$1.5B
Countries Covered
7
Refugees Targeted
2.6M
Returnees Targeted
97k
Third Country Nationals Targeted
8.1k
Host Community Members Targeted
566.5k

Displacement within Sudan and neighbouring countries has continued to escalate since the conflict erupted in mid-April 2023. By August 2024, 2.2 million people had arrived in neighbouring countries, including refugees and returnees. The protection and humanitarian crisis caused by this conflict is among the worst globally, with those fleeing having suffered violence, extreme hunger, and other abuses. Seeking safety in neighbouring countries they face severe shortages of food, shelter, and medical care due to underfunding of the response. Recent flooding in Chad, South Sudan and Libya has further worsened conditions in overcrowded border areas and in refugee hosting areas, complicating humanitarian efforts and disrupting the provision of aid and services. Refugee settlements in Ethiopia have been affected by insecurity, requiring the establishment of new sites. Thousands of new refugees are arriving each week.

The 2024 RRP is appealing for $1.5 billion for a projected population of 3.3 million people that includes 2.6 million refugees, 97,300 returnees, 8,100 third country nationals and 566,500 members of the host populations in surrounding areas. In July 2024, Libya and Uganda joined the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), which originally included five countries – Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Almost 90 partners in seven countries will continue to support government-led efforts in assisting these refugees, returnees and vulnerable host community members. Despite the challenges in the humanitarian response, there is a concerted effort to build resilience and capacity through the RRP with the inclusion of refugees in national systems, particularly for education and health services, more attention to livelihoods and economic inclusion, and a drive to involve development partners in the response and link to broader development investments that are outside the plan.

Funding for the RRP is only 22 per cent of requirements as of end August. Given competing global priorities and other critical appeals, garnering funds for the Sudan situation is a challenge. The 2023 RRP was just 38 per cent funded.

The CERF and Country-based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) have also provided funding to assist refugees and returnees who were forced to flee Sudan, as well as the people hosting them in six neighbouring countries: Chad (CERF, $14 million); Central African Republic (CERF, $4 million); Egypt (CERF, $5 million); Ethiopia (CERF, $5 million); Libya (CERF, $5 million); and The South Sudan (CERF, $28 million and CBPF, $42 million). UN and its humanitarian partners have provided food, water, shelter, and medication, as well as health, legal, relocation and other protection services to thousands of vulnerable people, including people with disabilities.

Pooled Funds Support to Sudan and the Region

Pooled Funds Sudan infographic

Regional Focus: Central Sahel

The Sahel region faces multidimensional and interconnected crises marked by persistent political and social instability, a deteriorating security situation, and the inexorable creep of climate change.

In Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), nearly 17.9 million people need humanitarian assistance and protection services. People face significant food insecurity and concerning nutrition levels due to violence, climate shocks, and increasing prices of local and imported basic products. The livelihood of affected people is threatened and access to basic services is limited, increasing vulnerability to epidemics and shocks.

Burkina Faso experiences the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with an estimated ten per cent of the population - or more than two million people - internally displaced due to violence and insecurity. The humanitarian situation is dire and there are serious protection concerns, as well as security incidents affecting civilians which went up by 60 per cent in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to the previous year. Basic social services are increasingly overwhelmed, exacerbating humanitarian needs. Due to the conflict and violence in Burkina Faso, the number of People in Need in 2024 is 6.3 million people of which 3.8 million are targeted for humanitarian assistance. The number of people in need in 2023 was 4.6 million out of which 3.1 million were targeted with humanitarian assistance. The number of vulnerable people targeted with humanitarian assistance to quadruple since 2019, reaching a high of 3.8 million people in 2024.

Niger continues to face an acute and complex humanitarian crisis marked by the impact of persistent insecurity, epidemics, food insecurity and floods, all of which are exacerbated by the instable political situation. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of people targeted for assistance in Niger doubled to three million people in 2020 mainly due to the COVID-pandemic that year, but also as a result of the insecurity in the country that displaced millions of people. The number of people in need in 2023 was 4.3 million people and increased slightly to 4.5 million in 2024. The number of people targeted with humanitarian assistance has remained 2.7 million people in 2023 and in 2024.

The humanitarian crisis in Mali has worsened since 2021 due to an increase in and expansion of intercommunal violence and attacks by non-state armed groups in the central, southern and western regions. The volatile security situation is further exacerbated by structural vulnerabilities, socio-economic challenges, as well as climate change. In addition, around 65,000 people were affected by floods end of August 2024. Between 2019 and 2024 the number of people in need more than doubled from 3.2 million to 7.1 million people. The number of people targeted with humanitarian assistance followed the same trend and doubled from 2.3 million people to 5.4 million.

Between 2019 and 2024, humanitarian requirements in Central Sahel increased by 157 per cent from $894 million in 2019 to a high of $2.3 billion as of end-August 2024. The largest increase during this period was in Burkina Faso with an increase of 400 per cent between 2019 and 2024, followed by Mali (+117 per cent) and Niger (+73 per cent).

In Burkina Faso, which has the largest appeal in the region in 2024, UN and partners estimate they will need $935 million to provide life-saving assistance and protection services to some 3.8 million people. At the same time, investments to help people become more resilient to shocks are needed for displaced and non-displaced communities, especially for those remaining displaced for more than two years. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Burkina Faso is 36 per cent funded as of end of August 2024.

Mali is marked by a complex crisis that derives from a volatile security situation exacerbated by structural vulnerabilities, socio-economic challenges, as well as climate change. The humanitarian requirements for Mali have increased every year since 2019.The largest increase was between 2019 and 2020 where the requirements increased by almost 50 per cent. Since 2020, the increase in requirements for the humanitarian appeals has continued until 2023. In 2024, the humanitarian appeal for Mali requires $701.5 million (minus seven per cent compared to 2023) to assist four million people and is 28.5 per cent funded as of end of August 2024.

In Niger, the appeal currently requires $662.2 million to assist 2.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and is currently 37.6 per cent funded as of end of August 2024. Requirements for the Niger HRP increased significantly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, requirements have remained at an average of $5.8 million. Sanctions and development funding cuts following the 2023 coup d’etat risk pushing many more people into dependence on humanitarian aid if solutions cannot be found quickly to address them. Avoiding further cuts to humanitarian funding is essential to prevent a wider catastrophe and further spill-over of the crisis into coastal countries.

As of end August 2024, funding to the Central Sahel region is 13 per cent less than at the end of 2013 (minus $112 million). While it is still early to predict end-year coverage, the current humanitarian situation requires the full attention of donors and partners. Compared to the end of 2023, the largest decrease so far is in Mali (minus 21 per cent / -$49.7 million), followed by Niger (minus 16 per cent / - $42.6 million) and Burkina Faso (minus 6 per cent / -$20.1 million). The current funding gap for the region stands at $1.56 billion.

Event: On 26 October 2024, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in cooperation with OCHA and UNHCR will convene a Ministerial-level Conference for the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. he event will provide a platform for donors to mobilize resources to help address the crisis.

For more information on the event, please contact Ms. Amani S.M. Salah, salah1@un.org

Since 2021, the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa provides a strategic response to the interconnected humanitarian needs of the Central Sahel region in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. The Fund prioritises integrated, multisector approaches, cross-border collaboration, and synergies between countries' allocations. Between 2021 and 2023, $93.2 million was contributed to the regional fund. As of end-August 2024, the total contributions to the Regional Humanitarian Fund for West and Central Africa amount to $24.1 million ($13 million for Burkina Faso; $7.7 million for Niger and $3.3 million for Mali).

In 2023, three allocations totalling $36.4 million in Burkina Faso ($20 million), Mali $5.3 million), and Niger ($11 million) were made to address the needs of crisis-affected populations impacted by food and nutrition insecurity, forced displacement due to armed violence and insecurity, and climate change. Twenty-nine per cent of the allocations provided direct funding to local and national actors.

Pooled Funds

Total 2024 Allocations (US$)
$832.8
Countries Assisted with 2024 Allocations
40

In August 2024, the OCHA-managed Pooled Funds allocated grants across seven countries amounting to $86 million to enable essential and life-saving humanitarian assistance. Of this amount, the CBPFs allocated $73 million and CERF allocated $13 million. In addition to the CERF allocations, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) also endorsed $100 million from CERF’s Underfunded Emergencies (UFE) window to support underfunded humanitarian crises in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Myanmar and Yemen. These countries have now been invited to develop allocation strategies.

This is CERF’s second 2024 UFE allocation round and follows the release of $100 million in February for another seven countries. As part of the second UFE allocation round, the ERC has committed an additional funding envelope of up to $10 million to support catalytic initiatives promoting the adaptive capacities and resilience of crisis-affected communities against climate-related shocks and stresses.

For more information about allocations, please visit the CBPFs’ Data Hub and CERF’s website.

CENTRAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND

Allocations endorsed by the ERC as of 31 August 2024

August Allocations (US$)
$13M
Total 2024 Allocations (US$)
$286.8M
Countries Assisted with Allocations in August
2

Allocation in focus: In response to significant population movements due to the advance of the armed force M23, the humanitarian situation in South Lubero, North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has rapidly deteriorated. In August, CERF allocated $10 million to provide life-saving assistance for 115,500 newly displaced people and returnees. This funding will prioritize vulnerable communities in spontaneous settlements around Kayna and Kanyabayonga. Five coordinated projects will target these groups, ensuring an effective and integrated response, complementing existing Nutrition and WASH programs funded by the DRC Humanitarian Fund in 2023.

By end August 2024, contributions from donors to the CERF in paid, pledges and pipelines was $484 million, which is almost the same amount as last year at the same time of the year. Projected total income for CERF for 2024 has dropped to $524 million, which will represent the lowest income level since 2017. Low-income levels to the CERF will have direct consequences on the Fund’s ability to allocate in response to humanitarian needs until the of the year.

Fundraising for the CERF Climate Action Account continues. The Climate Account serves to scale CERF’s capacity for anticipatory action and humanitarian assistance in response to climate-related disasters. For more information, see the Flyer on the CERF Climate Account.

CERF UFE

COUNTRY-BASED POOLED FUNDS

as of 31 August

August Allocations (US$)
$73M
Total 2024 Allocations (US$)
$546M
Countries Assisted with Allocations in August
5

Allocation in focus: The situation in Sudan continues to worsen, with new needs rapidly emerging due to escalating violence in Sennar and El Fasher, increasing border movements, the return of deportees, and a deepening food crisis. In response, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) allocated $40 million in August to ensure that life-saving services are ready to launch as soon as the rainy season ends in September 2024. The allocation will support affected people living in famine hotspots, conflict zones, and newly displaced communities, including deportees. This area-based allocation is driven by local partners on the ground and shaped through engagement with affected communities, ensuring that the most urgent humanitarian needs are met in the areas that need it most.

As of end August 2024, total paid, pledges and pipelines for 16 CBPFs and 2 Regional Funds amounted to $761 million. This is $126 million less than the amount at the same time last year ($887 million). Projected total income for the CBPFs stands at $940 million. This is nearly $220 million below the income received in 2023. Against an incredibly tight financial landscape, we are very concerned about the funding outlook of the funds in 2024 and 2025, and the consequences that this decline in funding will have on the operational continuity of Funds’ partners.

Pooled Funds Story

Helping children living with disability
Blue Nile, Sudan.

Noureldin contracted polio when he was young. His father, Elnour, explained, “We didn’t know much about his condition, and we were also struggling economically, so we weren’t able to properly attend to it. Unfortunately, as a result, Noureldin is living with a physical disability.”

Noureldin cannot walk and can use only one arm. “When I was younger, my mother used to help me. But now that I’m grown up, she is not able to do that anymore.”

Elnour, Noureldin, and the rest of their family fled fighting in Khartoum, and went to safety in Ed Damazine, the capital of Blue Nile. Like many vulnerable displaced people across Sudan, Elnour is struggling to provide for his family. He is a daily-wage earner, so he could not afford to buy Noureldin a wheelchair.

“I would barely leave the house,” says Noureldin. “It was too difficult to crawl on the rocky and muddy ground, and I preferred to stay at home. One day I fell and hurt my ear and the left side of my face,” he adds, showing the scar on his face and head.

A Sudan Humanitarian Fund-supported project, implemented with Save the Children, AlSalam Organization for Rehabilitation, and the Child Development Fund, supports children with disability who have been affected by the fighting. As part of the project, a community-based child protection network is reaching out to support families with children living with disability.

“[One of our community leaders] came to our house to ask after Noureldin,” says Elnour. After that, they received a wheelchair for Noureldin, as well as some food and household items to help the rest of the family.

“It changed everything for me and my family. Now I can finally go outside and enjoy time with my friends,” Noureldin said, adding that he goes to the nearby child-friendly space supported by Save the Children and plays with his peers. “I come here with my brothers, and we play with other children. It’s great!” Noureldin said.

Meanwhile, Elnour hopes that his family will not be displaced again: “Millions of people are currently fleeing from conflict in Khartoum, Darfur, and other states. Until now, our area has been relatively safe. We pray every day that it remains calm and that the rest of Sudan can return to peace.”

February 2024

Adapted from OCHA Sudan’s original story.

For more information: visit the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and find real-time contribution and allocation data on the Pooled Funds Data Hub.