Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 Monthly Updates

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is facing a complex humanitarian emergency driven by ongoing conflicts and recurrent climate shocks, leaving millions of people in dire need of food assistance. Persistent violence in the Amhara and Oromia regions, coupled with tensions in Tigray, has resulted in the displacement of over three million people within the country, which is also hosting over 800,000 refugees. Critically low funding levels are forcing humanitarian organizations to drastically reduce their operations, jeopardizing essential services like healthcare, shelter, and nutrition for millions of vulnerable individuals. In response, the UN and humanitarian partners are working to reprioritize existing resources to address immediate, life-saving needs while preparing for multiple funding scenarios.

Gaining access to those in need remains a significant challenge, particularly in the Amhara and Oromia regions. The crisis is further compounded by outbreaks of diseases such as measles and malaria, straining already limited resources. In the Amhara region alone, over four million children are out of school, highlighting the devastating impact of the crisis on education. Humanitarian agencies are concerned about escalating hunger and malnutrition, emphasizing a critical need to step up funding.

Malawi

Malawi continues to face significant challenges due to delayed and erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, and early cessation of rains. Limited water availability is expected to hinder off-season cultivation, exacerbating food insecurity. Agriculture, a crucial sector for Malawi's economy, is further strained by climatic events and economic instability, resulting in soaring food prices.

Mozambique

Since 1 January 2025, renewed attacks by non-state armed groups in Cabo Delgado have displaced approximately 24,000 individuals across Ancuabe, Macomia, Meluco, Mocimboa da Praia, Montepuez, Muidumbe, and Nangade districts. An estimated 50 per cent of the affected population are children, and 30 per cent are women. The geographical expansion of attacks and their increasingly unpredictable modus operandi are affecting civilian protection and posing serious operational challenges for humanitarian partners. Abductions of children have increased. As violence spreads into new areas, humanitarian actors are overstretched, having to extend their presence and programming across a widening and often insecure geographical area. This is compounded by the need to respond to multiple concurrent shocks, including recent cyclones that have severely impacted infrastructure, livelihoods, and basic services. Continued attacks on humanitarian supplies and facilities, combined with severe funding cuts, exacerbate the impact on the population.

Somalia

The humanitarian situation in Somalia remains extremely concerning. In 2025, 5.98 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, driven by decades of conflict and insecurity, increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks, under-development and widespread displacement. Some 4.6 million people are facing acute food insecurity from April to June, and 1.8 million children face acute malnutrition this year, including 479,000 children facing severe malnutrition. With already high needs, acute food insecurity is expected to further deteriorate due to the below average La Niña-related October to December 2024 deyr rains. This is in the context of limited recovery from the drought in 2020 to 2023 and extensive flooding in late 2023, as well as below-normal rainfall and above-normal temperatures in the current April to June gu rains. Nearly 550,000 people were forcibly displaced in Somalia in 2024, 290,000 of them due to conflict and insecurity. To date in 2025, conflict between non-state armed groups and government forces has displaced more than 110,000 people, with tens of thousands more displaced by clan clashes. Displacement drives increased humanitarian needs and negatively impacts humanitarian access. At the same time, humanitarian programming is being reduced and suspended due to massive funding shortfalls.

South Sudan

South Sudan is facing a worsening humanitarian crisis, with nearly three quarters of the population needing humanitarian assistance – 9.3 million people in total. The crisis is driven by violence, food insecurity, political instability, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, and spillover from the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. In March, tensions escalated in Upper Nile State following clashes between government forces and armed groups in Nasir town, displacing an estimated 130,000 people, including 35,000 who fled to Ethiopia. The crisis is straining resources, exacerbating vulnerabilities, and heightening the need for urgent humanitarian interventions. South Sudan will likely face serious flooding in 2025, further threatening food security and livelihoods. About 7.7 million people are facing acute hunger and 650,000 children are at risk of severe malnutrition. Since April 2023, 1.1 million people have fled across the border from Sudan, increasing South Sudan’s population by eight per cent. Health risks are compounding, including a cholera outbreak that has become the worst in the nation’s history, with over 54,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths by late April. While humanitarian organizations strive to respond to the most vulnerable, the ability to mitigate the human cost and destabilizing effects is severely constrained.

Sudan

Sudan faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with 30.4 million people—over half the population—requiring assistance in 2025. Sixteen million of those in need are children. After two years of war, basic services have collapsed, with over 70 per cent of hospitals and health facilities no longer operational, leaving millions without healthcare. Disease outbreaks – including cholera and measles - are rising, and humanitarian efforts are hindered by active conflict and access constraints. Acute food insecurity has more than tripled since the pre-conflict period, affecting approximately 24.6 million people. Famine conditions have been confirmed in parts of North Darfur, with millions more at risk in conflict-affected areas, including Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum. Some 12.7 million people are estimated to have been displaced since April 2023, including 8.8 million within Sudan and over three million fleeing to neighboring countries. About 397,000 have also recently returned to Aj Jazirah, Khartoum and Sennar. Women and girls continue to suffer abuses, including sexual violence.

Zambia

Zambia continues to face humanitarian needs driven by climate shocks, food insecurity, and disease outbreaks. Prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall, and flash floods have severely impacted agricultural production, leaving over 5.83 million people food insecure, particularly in southern, western, and eastern provinces. Malnutrition rates are rising, with over 227,000 children under five suffering from acute malnutrition. Economic challenges, including high inflation and unemployment, further limit households' ability to cope. Health systems are strained due to recurrent cholera outbreaks and mPox.