Regional overview
Climate change, conflict, political instability, disease, and economic shocks are driving humanitarian needs in Southern and Eastern Africa. In 2025, more than 84.5 million people are projected to need humanitarian assistance, accounting for 28 per cent of the global humanitarian caseload. This number is expected to rise further in 2025 due to ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Ethiopia, a deteriorating economic and security situation in South Sudan, protracted and predicted climate hazards, and escalating food insecurity and disease outbreaks throughout the region. Nearly $12 billion is required to meet the needs of nearly 60 million people targeted for assistance in 2025.
Gedaref State, Sudan
Al-Sayed, 70, was forced to flee armed violence in Aj Jazirah State in October 2024. Unable to walk, his children carried him on their shoulders for 40 hours to reach safety in Gedaref State. Now at the El Salamabi reception centre, they are receiving emergency aid.
OCHA/Yao ChenConflict
Following 20 months of relentless conflict, Sudan has become one of the world’s largest and most severe humanitarian crises with nearly two-thirds of the population in desperate need of assistance. Sudan is one of the world’s worst hunger crises with nearly 26 million people facing acute hunger and famine, with famine confirmed in ZamZam IDP Camp, in North Darfur. With nearly 11 million internally displaced persons and another 3 million people having fled into neighbouring countries, Sudan is now the world’s largest displacement crisis. In Ethiopia, the lingering effects of the Tigray conflict, coupled with ongoing insecurity in the Amhara and Oromia regions, have led to widespread displacement exposing people to hunger, diseases, and protection concerns. In Somalia the security situation remains fragile, with the flare-up of hostilities between the Somali security forces and Al-Shabaab, while in Mozambique, the ongoing conflict has continued to impact and displace communities in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. In the Horn of Africa, political alliances shifted in 2024. Strategic interests, especially the quest for access to the Red Sea, the control of the Nile waters, and access to minerals and resources, are fuelling the geopolitical contest in the Horn of Africa. As a result, conflicts have increased and become more fragmented, driven by transactional and economic interests of both regional and international players. As conflict escalates in the region, and borders are becoming militarized, more people are displaced, with limited freedom of movements and access to essential services and protection, Ethiopia has the second biggest displacement in the region with 3.3 million displaced people, while Uganda is home to Africa’s highest number of refugees and the fifth largest globally, with a total of 1.8 million refugees. Clan-violence, inter-communal disputes and armed groups continue to affect millions of people across the region in places such as Mozambique, Somalia and Kenya.
Macomia, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
An IDP woman carries a sack of food received by WFP. WFP/Alfredo Zuniga
WFP/Alfredo ZunigaClimate
Countries in the region continue to be adversely affected by the impact of climate change with three of the ten most impacted countries in the world (Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia) located in Eastern Africa. In 2024, southern Africa experienced the worst drought in 100 years. Six countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe - declared a state of disaster due to the impact of El Niño-induced drought while Mauritius reported the driest July in 120 years. The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) estimates that more than 60 million are food insecure with over 26 million of these are expected to face hunger (IPC 3+) in Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe until March 2025. At the same time, eastern Africa experienced severe flooding. In South Sudan, floods rendered over 60 percent of key supply routes impassable while in Somalia floods during the Gu rainy season destroyed key infrastructure and disrupted water and sanitation services leading to a surge in cholera cases.
In 2025, countries across the region will continue to face the impacts of climate change. A projected transition to a La Niña phase may cause dry weather conditions and worsen food insecurity in parts of Eastern Africa, while wetter-than-normal conditions and possible flooding are projected in some parts of Southern Africa. A Tropical Cyclone Seasonal 2024-25 Outlook by Meteofrance indicates a 70 per cent probability of normal to above-average Tropical Cyclone season with 9 to 13 named systems. The projection shows a likelihood of 4 to 7 systems reaching tropical cyclone intensity. In Madagascar, partners are projecting an active cyclone season for 2024-2025 with 2 to 5 weather events likely to affect 1.18 million people across 11 regions.
Malawi
Flooding of rivers have caused road closures, leading to a sharp rise in maize prices. Maize is available in small quantities, resulting in food shortages in camps.
UNICEFDisease
The region continues to grapple with major diseases including cholera, malaria and measles. At least two-thirds of Sudan’s 18 states are facing multiple disease outbreaks like cholera, malaria, and measles and others amid a collapsed public healthcare system and this is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The lack of access to healthcare services across the country means that 5 million people, including children under the age of five and pregnant women, will face a heightened threat of death.
In addition, climate-induced disasters including droughts and floods have reduced access to clean and safe drinking water which has led to significant cholera outbreaks in countries such as Burundi, Malawi, Somalia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In Somalia, the Gu 2024 rain-induced flooding disrupted water and sanitation services which led to a surge in cholera and acute watery diarrhoea cases. In Malawi, after a two-year cholera outbreak was declared over in June, a new outbreak, affecting four districts, was declared in September 2024. 96 cases and 7 deaths were confirmed between 26 August and 03 November. After declaring the end of an 18-month cholera outbreak in August 2024, Zimbabwe also confirmed a new outbreak in Kariba district, where 21 cases and one death had been confirmed as of 13 November. Burundi has also declared outbreaks of cholera, malaria and measles in addition to m-pox. Ethiopia’s outbreak is the longest in decades, raging unabated since August 2022.
Burundi accounts for the highest m-pox caseload in the region with a total of 1,579 people affected, including 721 active cases as of 30 October 2024. The Marburg outbreak declared in neighbouring Rwanda is an additional public health risk to Burundi.
Chilenje market, Zambia
UNICEF has supported the training and deployment of 240 Community-Based Volunteers (CBVs) through the Red Cross Society (ZRCS) and additional 350 CBVs through direct support to the Government of Zambia which are targeting about 2.4 million people throughout the country with cholera messages on prevention and access to services.
UNICEF/Mapalo MwenyaNote: These preliminary figures are subject to change as assessments and consultations with concerned authorities continue. Final figures will differentiate between People in Need and People Targeted.
