Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 Monthly Updates

Lebanon

Lebanon is grappling with the aftermath of its most severe crisis since the 2006 Lebanon war, with a conflict that has killed over 4,000 people, injured over 16,600, affected 1.3 million people, and caused significant displacement and widespread infrastructure damage. In addition, Lebanon hosts approximately 1.5 million displaced Syrians, 180,000 Palestine refugees, 23,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria, and over 11,200 refugees from other countries.

The Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) 2025 remains the unified planning and coordination framework in the country and is co-led with the Government. The LRP covers immediate and medium-term needs across all vulnerable population groups, including Lebanese, refugees and migrants, including through support to Lebanese institutions and public services amid the multi-faceted crisis. The Lebanon Flash Appeal is fully complementary to, and supportive of, the LRP. It enables partners to rapidly deliver principled and effective life-saving assistance and protection to one million Lebanese, Syrians, Palestine refugees in Lebanon, Palestinian refugees from Syria, and migrants. The 3RP Lebanon Chapter requires $2.8 billion and the Lebanon Flash Appeal requires $426 million to assist a total of 3.1 million people in Lebanon.

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The 2025 OPT Flash Appeal calls for $4 billion for UN agencies, INGO, and NGO partners to address some of the most urgent and critical needs for three million people based on the assumption that humanitarian actors will continue to face a constrained operating environment in 2025, making it challenging to scale operations effectively.2 The increase from 2023 reflects higher needs and rising costs of operating in OPT, most dramatically in Gaza, where increased security, logistics, demurrage, and staff costs are inversely correlated with operating constraints. Growing needs in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, also contribute to the overall rise. Notably, the humanitarian system has exceeded even the most ambitious expectations of scaling up assistance in Gaza during the ceasefire agreement, underscoring the importance of ensuring this agreement holds.

The main response priority is to scale up operations to address the urgent needs across the OPT. The 2025 Flash Appeal outlines the actions needed to meet lifesaving requirements. Activities focus on delivering emergency supplies – including food, water, medical supplies, shelter, NFIs, education materials—while providing critical services, including protection, until local services and markets are restored. The Flash Appeal includes activities to address the needs of displaced families, both inside and outside emergency shelters, including those staying with host communities in Gaza and those affected by settler violence, demolitions and military operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Syria

Fourteen years since the onset of the crisis, Syria is grappling with a catastrophe of unprecedented magnitude, with new developments adding to the existing crises and taking a heavy toll on the people living in Syria. Protracted displacement, ongoing hostilities leading to acute protection threats, economic decline exacerbated by global inflation, the spillover effects of regional deteriorations, climate and environmental impacts, and most recently the uncertain future of governance in the country, are the biggest challenges Syrians currently face.

The 2025 Syria Humanitarian Response Priorities document highlights the most urgent humanitarian needs across the country for the period 1 January 2025 – 31 March 2025. The United Nations and humanitarian partners are appealing for $1.2 billion to cover prioritized activities to respond to the most immediate needs of 6.7 million people targeted in the country. The response will prioritize the most vulnerable populations, with a targeted focus on protection, human rights violations, and access to basic services. This includes strategic investments in essential civilian infrastructure and livelihood support. At the same time, the country team is working on strengthening systematic data collection for the first time since the conflict began.

The Syria situation remains one of the largest displacement crises globally, with more than 12 million Syrians forcibly displaced, including more than five million Syrian refugees hosted in neighbouring countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Türkiye. Since the fall of the Assad government in December 2024, spontaneous voluntary returns to Syria have dramatically increased, with some 300,000 Syrians returning from neighbouring countries. According to a recent survey, up to 27 per cent of refugees intend to go back home in 2025. To support this evolving landscape, the 2025 Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) has integrated return planning across its country chapters. Planning efforts focus on voluntary return preparedness, intention surveys, transportation support, protection counselling and legal aid, and targeted cash assistance in host countries. By balancing continued support for host countries with structured return planning, the 3RP aims to prevent premature, unsustainable returns while facilitating informed and dignified choices for refugees. Overall, in 2025 more than 19.2 million people in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Türkiye are in need of some form of humanitarian and development assistance. The 2025 Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan requires $4.9 billion to respond to the heightened needs of both refugees and their host communities.

Yemen

Now in its tenth year of conflict, Yemen faces a severe protection and humanitarian crisis exacerbated by recurring economic shocks, weakened basic services, climate hazards, regional conflict, and chronic underfunding. Living conditions for most Yemenis will remain dire in 2025. Limited livelihood opportunities and declining purchasing power are expected to deepen socio-economic instability. The country’s gross domestic product has shrunk by over 50 per cent since 2015 and is projected to contract further in 2024. In Government of Yemen -controlled areas, the Yemeni Rial continues to hit record lows, as oil and gas exports remain obstructed. Access to basic services—healthcare, schools and water supply systems—continues to deteriorate. Disease outbreaks are expected to surge, while 3.2 million school-aged children (6-17 years old) remain out of school.

In 2025, an estimated 19.54 million people in Yemen will require humanitarian assistance and protection. The 2025 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan prioritizes life-saving and life-sustaining activities in Yemen, underpinned by strong prioritization and boundary setting. It requires $2.48 billion to assist 10.5 million people.