Southern and Eastern Africa

People in Need

84.5 million

People Targeted

59.8 million

Requirements (US$)

$11.9 billion

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 Chen

Conflict

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 Zuniga

Climate

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.

UNICEF

Disease

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 Mwenya

Ethiopia

Note: 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.

People in Need

TBD

People Targeted

10.0 million

Requirements (US$)

2.0 billion

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

5 / Very high

Consecutive appeals

2017 - 2025

Crisis overview

The Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian partners work in close partnership to address many humanitarian challenges, ranging from recurrent climatic shocks—such as droughts, floods, and landslides—alongside conflict, displacement, and outbreaks of infectious diseases like cholera and measles, including in areas still recovering from the lasting impacts of previous climatic or conflict-driven crises. At the same time, there has been significant progress in the roll out of the Government’s resilience agenda, including the Green Legacy Initiative.

Final details regarding the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance are being generated through ongoing seasonal assessments and sectoral needs analysis exercises. The Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian partners are already planning that in 2025, approximately 5.3 million people will be targeted with assistance to address acute food insecurity, some of whom have other sector-specific needs, as do a further 4.7 million people requiring non-food assistance and services. The total preliminary multisectoral target of people to be assisted is 10 million. The expected funding requirements are $2 billion.

Erratic rains, driven by La Niña are expected to be a key driver of food insecurity and malnutrition in the southern and southeastern lowland areas of Ethiopia through at least early 2025. These areas, still recovering from the impact of the 2020-2023 drought, have been the focus of coordinated and data-driven anticipatory actions – led by the Government of Ethiopia and supported by humanitarian partners – since October 2024. La Niña may also cause erratic rainfall patterns, damaging crops and increasing the likelihood of flooding in other parts of the country.

Conflict and climate shocks across various regions have led to new displacement, while many protracted internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain dependent on humanitarian assistance; Ethiopia is also hosting over one million refugees, further straining its resources. The challenging security, protection and access situation—particularly in parts of the Amhara and Oromia regions—continues to hinder people’s access to essential services and lifesaving aid, while complicating humanitarian response and increasing security risks for humanitarian operations in some areas. Conflict has caused widespread damage and continues to be a significant driver of humanitarian needs, particularly in relation to protection concerns, including gender-based violence (GBV).

Dobi Woreda, Afar Region, Ethiopia

Idris sits outside his flood-damaged home, just one of the houses devastated by recent flooding in the area.

OCHA/Nitsebiho Asrat

Ethiopia’s health system faces enduring disease outbreaks. A cholera outbreak, spread across multiple sub-Saharan countries, and ongoing in Ethiopia since August 2022 affects many regions, while malaria remains endemic in Oromia, Amhara, Southwest, and Southern Ethiopia. Measles outbreaks also pose severe risks, especially for children.

In 2025, in addition to carrying out a well-prioritized humanitarian response, and in recognition of potential funding constraints, the humanitarian community will increase its engagement with the Government of Ethiopia and development partners to secure sustainable support for groups who face chronic, protracted or predictably recurrent humanitarian needs. This will include advocacy for durable solutions for displaced persons, facilitating recovery from major shocks including the northern Ethiopia conflict and the 2020-2023 drought in lowland areas, advancing disaster risk reduction for predictable and recurring climate shocks, and enhancing basic service provision. The humanitarian community will also prioritize the safety, dignity, and rights of vulnerable people affected by crises by mainstreaming protection and GBV prevention into the humanitarian response.

Shabelle Zone, Somali Region, Ethiopia

Community members engage with an OCHA-led high-level ambassadors’ mission to discuss anticipatory actions for projected drought.

WFP/Filimon Mekonnen

Response priorities in 2025

As of 25 November, the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) had received approximately $796 million in contributions from international donors, covering nearly 22 per cent of the required funding. In addition, humanitarian food actors started the year with $585 million in carry-over resources from 2023, largely due to the pause in food aid. Moreover, the Government of Ethiopia allocated $265 million of its own resources for food response towards the HRP, which was in addition to contributions made by regional states and affected communities. This funding has enabled humanitarian partners to carry out approximately half of the planned response under the 2024 HRP, reaching the most affected people with essential assistance. In total, approximately 12.8 million people received at least one type of humanitarian assistance in 2024, including, on average, 4.6 million people receiving monthly food distributions.

Despite significant gaps, humanitarian partners conclude that the response has been generally well managed and targeted, with careful and regular data-driven prioritization. A strong humanitarian response has addressed the El-Niño-driven drought that impacted the late 2023 harvest in many highland areas, becoming the primary driver of food insecurity through the first nine months of 2024. The Government of Ethiopia and humanitarian partners also responded to sudden-onset disasters, including floods and one of the most devastating landslides in the country’s modern history in Gofa, South Ethiopia Region. Life-sustaining response has been provided to IDPs throughout the country, while essential humanitarian assistance and protection services have been provided to people affected by conflicts, insecurity, and disease outbreaks, including cholera and measles.

Throughout the year, the Ethiopia Disaster Risk Management Commission and the Humanitarian Country Team directed resources towards evolving priorities and critical funding gaps in a dynamic manner. CERF funding and allocations by the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund were aligned with these dynamic priorities.

Kori Woreda, Afar Region, Ethiopia

Kadija stands with the water she collected from her town's water supply. It is unclean and due to drought, the supply often dries up.

OCHA/Nitsebiho Asrat

In 2025, the humanitarian response will continue to prioritize communities facing the most urgent, life- threatening conditions. The response strategy will focus on the following main objectives:

Support and complement national response efforts to the La Niña-induced food insecurity and health emergencies. This includes anticipatory actions aligned with the national framework to mitigate the impact of climate induced shocks in southern and southeastern parts of the country.
Anticipate, prepare for, and respond to sudden-onset natural disasters, including by deploying rapid response resources to guarantee timely assistance in emerging crises.
Protect people affected by conflict and violence, with a principled and integrated response to new displacement or returns.
Ensure agile support to basic service provision in hard-to-reach areas.
Ensure critical assistance to protracted displaced communities still recovering from past climate and conflict shocks, while promoting durable solutions and a sustainable exit.

Local partners will play a key role in delivering services, especially in hard-to-reach areas, while ensuring community ownership. Collaboration and coordination with government and development partners will be essential to avoid duplication of services and achieve sustainable results.

Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia

Health workers going above and beyond to reduce home delivery, providing integrated care from pregnancy to childbirth and beyond.

UNICEF/Demissew Bizuwerk

Financial requirements

The anticipated financial requirements for the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) have decreased from $3.2 billion in 2024 to approximately $2 billion in 2025.

The reduction in funding requirements for 2025 primarily reflects the climate-driven evolving needs, with improved rainfall and productivity in areas impacted in the previous year. The immense food security, malnutrition, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) response in the first nine months of 2024 largely targeted densely populated highland areas.

The 2025 HRP will employ an activity- and unit-based costing methodology, established by clusters and informed by the actual costs incurred by humanitarian partners to deliver services and activities. This approach ensures that funding is channeled toward high-impact areas, maximizing the effectiveness of the humanitarian response.

Although financial requirements for the 2025 response have been streamlined, sustained donor support remains essential to protect the most vulnerable populations and maintain continuity in critical assistance, ensuring that no urgent needs go unmet.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

Food insecurity

On average more than 5 million food-insecure people received monthly distributions of relief food/cash assistance.

Agriculture

4.8 million farmers were supported with a comprehensive package of crop seeds, fertilizer, tools, small livestock as well as livestock vaccinations, supplementary feed and multi-purpose cash.

Health

Essential health services were provided to 5 million people, thanks to the critical involvement of local organizations in reaching populations in conflict-affected parts of the country.

Access to water

3.3 million people received durable and emergency water solutions, with 60 per cent gaining long-term access to sustainable water sources, decreasing their risks of waterborne diseases.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

1.3 million people received water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) non-food items, providing them with essential support to maintain proper hygiene practices.

Protection

1.7 million people received protection services, and child-specific protection services were implemented in 8 out of 14 regions in the country. Around 450,000 GBV survivors have received medical, psychological, and legal support, and another 750,000 people were reached through various awareness-raising activities aimed at preventing GBV. Over 77,000 people benefited from mine action activities, including 2,359 mine-incidents survivors.

Shelter

609,327 individuals across ten regions, including 21 per cent in hard-to-reach areas, received essential shelter and non-food items.

Localization

In line with its localization strategy, the Emergency Shelter/NFI Cluster has increased national partnerships by 3 per cent since 2023. In 2024, 61 per cent of the 49 implementing partners are national NGOs.

Cholera

Partners are actively working together on cholera prevention and control. The number of affected districts has decreased from 218 at the beginning of the year to 169 by the end of September 2024.

Education

Nearly 1 million children were reached with key education in emergencies activities to create enabling environments for learning.

Consequences of inaction

Despite reaching millions of people in 2024, humanitarian partners faced resource constraints that necessitated difficult compromises.

Food assistance

Beginning in July 2024, one of the major food operators reduced its cereal ration by 20 per cent (from 15 kg to 12 kg) for a significant part of their caseload. Another key food operator primarily distributed grain, with only small quantities of cooking oil and corn soya blend available, reflecting the limited availability on the local market.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)

The WASH Cluster adopted lower-cost interventions to improve cost efficiency, but at times this compromised quality. For instance, water treatment chemicals were distributed instead of more expensive methods such as water trucking. Underfunding prevented the cluster from reaching an additional 5.5 million people reliant on unsafe water sources, increasing their exposure to preventable health issues and limiting hygiene practices.

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFIs)

Gaps in Shelter and NFI assistance negatively impacted the health, safety, and socio-economic well-being of affected individuals. Inadequate shelter exposed displaced persons to life-threatening risks, including extreme weather, infectious diseases, and poor sanitation. Insufficient shelter also heightened the risk of gender-based violence, exploitation, and other protection issues, with communal shelters posing particular dangers for women, children, and the elderly.

Mobile health services

Mobile health teams were forced to suspend their activities in northwestern Tigray due to lack of funding, despite the high number of internally displaced people. In conflict-affected districts of Amhara and Oromia, access constraints have contributed to a surge in malaria cases.

Child protection services

Limited funding left over 500,000 children without access to essential protection services.

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance

The inability to conduct land marking and UXO clearance is hindering the safe return of displaced persons, limiting access to agricultural land and preventing safe access to education for 6.2 million students in conflict-affected areas.

Education and protection risks

Nearly 8 million children remain out of school, with many lacking access to education and acceptable learning environments. This increases their exposure to protection risks, including hazardous labour. Girls, in particular, face heightened risks of early marriage and adolescent pregnancy, as evidence shows that staying in school significantly reduces these risks.

Malawi

People in Need

6.1 million

People Targeted

3.8 million

Requirements (US$)

$57.5 million

Total population

21.5 million

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

4 / High

Crisis overview

On 23 March 2024, Malawi’s President Chakwera declared a state of disaster affecting 9 million people, across 23 of the country’s 28 districts, due to an El Niño-induced drought. The UN Humanitarian Country Team identified 6.1 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, with 3.8 million targeted through the Malawi Drought Flash Appeal’s inter-sectoral response.

Floods, below-normal rainfall, and prolonged dry spells significantly reduced maize harvests. According to the second Agricultural Production Estimates Survey, maize production fell from 3.5 million metric tons (MT) in 2022/23 to 2.9 MT in 2023/24, well below the five-year average of 3.8 MT. This sharp decline has worsened food insecurity, impacting multiple sectors, including protection, education, and health.

The July 2024 IPC assessment reported that 20 per cent of the population—approximately 4.2 million people—were in IPC Phase 3 or above between July and September 2024. This number is projected to increase to 5.7 million (28 per cent of the population) with 416,000 people in IPC Phase 4, between October 2024 and March 2025.

Khanene Village, Machinga, southern Malawi

A health worker uses MUAC on 3 months old Ethel George who is on home based Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food therapy in her maize field.

UNICEF/Thoko Chikondi

Since August, the situation has been compounded by outbreaks of cholera and measles. As of 31 September, WHO Malawi confirmed 51 cholera cases across four districts, with Chitipa and Karonga being the most affected. Limited access to adequate WASH facilities is expected to drive further spread of cholera through late 2024 and into early 2025.

The crisis has also heightened protection concerns. Child-headed households are on the rise as parents have been forced to migrate in search of income to support their families. Negative coping mechanisms, including school dropouts, and child-marriages, are also increasing.

Recent forecasts indicate that Malawi will experience normal to above-normal rains during the next rainy season due to La Niña. While this may improve harvest yields in certain areas, the delayed onset of the rains is expected to extend the lean season by one month, exacerbating food insecurity. Additionally, above-average rainfall could lead to flooding in certain parts of the country increasing the total number of people in need. Food insecurity and related protection, heath, education and WASH concerns are therefore expected to persist into 2025.

Blantyre, southern Malawi

14-year-old Joel, a cholera survivor, prepares to drink water at Kapeni Primary School.

UNICEF/Thoko Chikondi

Response priorities in 2025

The effects of the drought are expected to continue to impact over 6 million people between January and April 2025, with approximately 5.7 million people experiencing IPC Phase 3 or above between October 2024 and March 2025.

All sectors¹ will continue to implement the activities outlined in the Flash Appeal between January and April 2025. The Government, WFP and partners will continue food distributions while the agriculture sector will implement multi-purpose cash transfer and cash-for-work programmes in affected districts to rebuild community structures damaged by disasters and promote climate-resilient farming practices. Starting in January 2025, with CERF support, UNICEF will implement an education and nutrition response for children, while the health sector will respond to and mitigate the spread of cholera while delivering other life-saving interventions in affected communities.

However, funding restraints are likely to have an impact on the number of people reached in 2025.

Mukwala Village, T/A Mkhumba, Phalombe District, Malawi

After the two disasters, cyclone Freddy in 2023 and no rains between 2023 end and 2024, Mary only managed to harvest one bag of maize out of her farm this season.

UNICEF/Elephant Media/Gabriel Mmina

Financial requirements

The total amount required under the drought response Flash Appeal is $136.5 million from July 2024 to April 2025, targeting the most vulnerable people in need of humanitarian assistance. This amount is a fraction of the total amount requested under the National Flash Appeal which also covers early recovery, resilience and development projects. Sector leads in Malawi selected and budgeted the most appropriate projects to include in the UN Flash Appeal.

The 2024 requirement was $79 million and as of 25 November, only $26.3 million (or 33 per cent) was funded, with certain sectors either not funded (early recovery) or severely underfunded (agriculture at 6.1% funded). Education and WASH both received more than 100 per cent of their total ask for 2024.

To support the response, Malawi received a $2 million rapid response allocation from CERF in May 2024 and an additional $4 million from the CERF during the second round of allocations for underfunded emergencies in September 2024.

The 2025 requirement is $57.5 million. The current Flash Appeal runs until April 2025 and there are no plans to revise the funding request during this period.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

Between July and September 2024, 1.1 people were reached out of 3.8 million targeted, including 30,916 people with disabilities and 19,465 elderly people.

Gender-based violence

Over 363,000 people have already received gender-based violence (GBV), and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) support, with a total of 800,000 people projected to be reached by the end of 2024.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

Over 415,000 people were reached with critical WASH/ hygiene supplies.

Food security

Significant needs which have not been met. As of October 2024, the food security sector had reached less than 4% of the people targeted while the agriculture sector had reached less than 1% of the people targeted. This is concerning given the increasing food insecurity rates in Malawi with the latest MVAC report indicating that there will be at least 416,000 people in IPC Phase 4, between October 2024 and March 2025.

Consequences of inaction

The Malawi Flash Appeal is significantly underfunded.

Food security

The Food Security Sector has a gap of 67.3 per cent for 2024 which means that only 86,000 out of 2.4 million people targeted have been reached with critical food distributions.

Agriculture

At the same time, the agriculture sector remains critically underfunded and as a result has reached only 86,000 of the 2.2 million people targeted. Rebuilding communal agriculture infrastructure and equipping farmers with climate appropriate supplies is paramount in Malawi where 80 per cent of households rely on agriculture as their main source of income.

Malnutrition

In August 2024, a 43 per cent increase in children with severe wasting and an 82 per cent increase in children with moderate wasting was registered compared to the same month in 2023. As the food security crisis continues into the lean season, malnutrition rates are likely to rise.

Refugee

The refugee response is also limited by underfunding, with a gap of 60 per cent for 2024 and requiring an additional $1.1 million in 2025.

Access

There were no major access problems faced by partners responding to the drought, however future extreme flooding or cyclones may limit access as they did during the 2023 Cyclone Freddy Response.

Mozambique

People in Need

2.5 million

People Targeted

2.0 million

Requirements (US$)

$485 million

Total population

34.9 million

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

4 / High

Consecutive appeals

2019 - 2025

Crisis overview

The compound effects of armed conflict in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, and vulnerability to natural hazards countrywide continue to drive humanitarian needs.

In 2024, renewed conflict in Cabo Delgado increased vulnerabilities across Mozambique. Grave violations of children's rights quadrupled in the first half of the year, food insecurity affected one in three people, and reports of child soldier recruitment by non-State armed groups (NSAGs) and attacks on schools escalated. Nearly 200,000 people were internally displaced in the first five months alone – more than in the previous three years combined. An estimated 580,000 people remain displaced, predominantly women and children, with the highest concentrations in Pemba, Metuge, and Macomia. Some 610,000 returnees are in conflict-affected district capitals and remain vulnerable without access to basic services or stable livelihoods.

As displacement becomes more protracted, many internally displaced persons (IDPs) intend to stay and integrate locally, but conditions in host communities are challenging, and returning remains aspirational. Displaced people who intend to return are partially driven to do so by the lack of opportunities and unfavourable conditions in the place of displacement. Virtually all returnees, despite difficult conditions, plan to remain in the absence of further attacks.

The NSAGs are demonstrating increased capacity for coordinated attacks including use of military-grade-weapons including use of Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs). Incidents in Chiúre and Macomia have caused widespread displacement and damage to infrastructure, including humanitarian supplies, and prolonged school closures. Complicating matters, In July, Mozambique's defense forces, with support from Rwanda, launched operations to reclaim NSAG-controlled areas, resulting in civilian deaths and displacements.

Macomia, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

An IDP woman carries a sack of food received by WFP.

WFP/Alfredo Zuniga

Funding shortfalls have hampered humanitarian aid, limiting food distribution to every other month at only 39 per cent of required caloric intake. The insufficiency is deepening hunger and malnutrition levels, with tensions among communities rising over targeting and assistance. By August 2024, humanitarian partners reached an estimated 1.28 million people, including 669,000 women and over 733,000 children, prioritizing (IDPs), returnees and host communities, but aid remains sporadic and insufficient.

Climate shocks compound the crisis. Mozambique, highly vulnerable to extreme weather, faced a severe El Niño-induced drought in 2024, leaving 1.8 million people in IPC3+ (including 510,000 in IPC4) levels. A drought appeal was launched in 2024 and it runs until August 2025, to reach 1.4 million people in the most affected districts. The looming threat of La Niña in November 2024-January 2025 brings anticipated heavy rains and potential flooding to already drought-affected areas. The National Institute for Disaster Management estimates that at least 2.2 million people will be at risk of urban floods, drought, cyclones and strong winds during the coming rainy season.

Both conflict and climate-related crises are exposing women and girls to enhanced risks of gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices, negative coping strategies, with limited access to essential health, nutrition, protection and sanitation services.

The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan require $485 million to meet the most urgent humanitarian needs: $326 million for conflict, $17 million for readiness to respond to disasters, $7.5 million is for anticipatory action, and $1.9 million for public health emergency preparedness, as well as $133 million for the drought response. Humanitarian partners aim to adopt a more proactive, risk-informed approach to expand anticipatory action across areas at risk of hazards, including cyclones, floods and cholera.

Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

Ms. Ana, a mental health nurse, works at Hospital Rural Mocímboa da Praia.

UNFPA

Response priorities in 2025

By the end of August 2024, 1.28 million people were reached with some form of assistance across the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa, including 669,000 women and 733,000 children. The response in Cabo Delgado and Nampula was multisectoral, while in Niassa, only education, and food security and livelihoods clusters responded.

The response focuses on Cabo Delgado, where people are most impacted by conflict, including displacement levels, and the severity and the driver of needs (conflict versus underdevelopment). Solutions are also being pursued for IDPs in Niassa and Nampula.

The multisectoral needs analysis and sector-specific indicators formed the basis of the joint intersectoral analysis. The information was used to assess the severity of needs, complemented by an analysis of development interventions, including solutions investments and district profiles. Despite significant infrastructure rehabilitation, many services remain non- functional particularly in return areas where conflict renders people extremely vulnerable.

Mocimboa Sede, Mozambique

Women take part in socio-economic activities.

UNFPA

In 2025, the humanitarian partners will target more than 2 million of the 2.5 million people in need. Priority will be given to vulnerable groups, especially children, women and girls and people with disabilities in districts most affected by conflict: Macomia, Mocimboa da Praia, Nangade and Quissanga. Key priorities for the drought response include Food Security and livelihoods, nutrition, WASH, and protection, focusing on the most vulnerable populations.

Food security and livelihood partners will distribute and promote the use of short-cycle and drought-tolerant crop seeds like. maize, sorghum, millet, alongside water-harvesting and conservation practices. Nutritional support will target children and pregnant and breastfeeding women, emphasizing the distribution of specialized nutrition commodities. WASH support will address access to potable water and safe sanitation, particularly in cholera hotspots. Protection efforts will strengthen government institutions to support the safety and well-being of affected children and families.

Intersectional factors will be considered to ensure assistance is gender- responsive, inclusive and age-appropriate. Meanwhile, support for voluntary integration of IDPs, with around 250,000 living in IDP sites, will continue. Given the potential for new needs arising from conflict or natural hazards, rapid response mechanisms will be strengthened to allow immediate lifesaving assistance.

To enhance response efforts, a common pipeline has been established to address both conflict and disasters, in case of large-scale events. Minimum preparedness and response actions have also been developed for each sector.

Financial requirements

The 2025 HNRP and FA combined seek $485 million to respond to the most urgent needs, marking a 15 per cent reduction from last year as a result of rigorous prioritization. The 2025 HNRP takes a hybrid approach and includes costed activities as well as projects. The funding will also bolster local capacities and complement the Government of Mozambique’s efforts to address the pressing needs of the most vulnerable populations.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

By August 2024, some 1.28 million people were reached, including 669,000 women and 733,000 children. People reached included IDPs, returnees, and host communities.

Food security

In Cabo Delgado, between January and July 2024, food security and livelihoods (FSL) partners reached 547,353 unique beneficiaries across 14 districts of Cabo Delgado (Ancuabe, Balama, Chiure, Ibo, Macomia, Mecufi, Metuge, Mocimboa da Praia, Montepuez, Mueda, Muidumbe, Namuno, Nangade and Pemba), accounting for only 12.83 per cent of the food needs of the targeted people.

Nutrition

445,000 women and children received nutrition services.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

345,000 people received clean and safe water.

Shelter and NFIs

180,000 people received shelter and NFIs assistance.

Education

143,000 people received non-formal learning opportunities and access to formal education services in Cabo Delgado Niassa and Nampula.

Organizations

Of the 72 humanitarian organizations coordinating assistance through the HNRP, 25 per cent are national non-governmental organizations (NNGOs). Despite their significant presence, NNGOs received less than one percent of the humanitarian funding, primarily through sub-grants from UN agencies. This highlights a critical gap in direct funding to local organizations that are often at the forefront of response efforts.

Food Security

In 2024, food shortages during the lean season drove prices to their peak, making it increasingly difficult for impoverished families to access food from markets. An estimated 73.4 per cent of Mozambique’s population lives in poverty. Women and girls face disproportionate challenges, including risks related to food security, nutrition, health, protection and WASH. Limited access to water and food, increase the burden of unpaid care work. Vulnerable groups such as children, elderly, and people with disabilities were unable to meet basic needs, leaving them at heightened risk of severe humanitarian crises.

Consequences of inaction

Due to underfunding:

Food security and livelihood

Due to funding constraints, the FSL response in Cabo Delgado remained largely inadequate with less than 15 per cent of needs being met during the first six months of 2024.

Nutrition

More than 107,900 people, including 53,982 children under five and 26,991 pregnant and lactating women, did not receive nutritional support.

Protection

400,000 IDPs and returnees did not receive essential protection assistance (including GBV and child protection) services. Only 6 per cent of women and girls in need received specialized GBV case management.

Food

Food aid was severely reduced and less than 15 per cent of needs met.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

WASH assistance in Ibo was halted.

Mental health services

Most affected people cannot access mental health services due to funding shortages forcing adults, women and children to resort to harmful coping mechanisms with a potential risk for longer term effects.

Civil documentation

41 per cent of affected people are unable to access basic services due to the lack of civil documentation.

Due to access restrictions and impediments:

Humanitarian assistance

76,000 people did not receive assistance due to the suspension of humanitarian activities in Macomia.

Road

Road access constraints because of rains delayed delivery of assistance to 21,000 people in Meluco by 4 months.

School

Due to conflict, 24 schools were damaged impacting over 2,500 school children.

Health and education

Three health facilities and one school were used for military purposes, impacting access to health and education services.

Civilian casualties

IED incidents on main supply roads, near IDP sites, schools, and in farms resulted in civilian casualties. 61 per cent of civilian casualties were children and 87 per cent were civilians.

Humanitarian workers

Humanitarian workers were directly affected by conflict.

Somalia

People in Need

5.98 million

People Targeted

4.6 million

Requirements (US$)

$1.4 billion

Total population

19.3 million

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

5 / Very high

Consecutive appeals

1998 - 2025

Crisis overview

Somalia’s humanitarian crisis is among the world's most complex, marked by cycles of internal conflict and climate shocks, that drive displacement and undermine development efforts. Climate change exacerbates Somalia’s vulnerability, with altered rainfall patterns leading to both droughts and floods; Somalia’s population is still recovering from the effects of the devastating 2020-2023 drought and the 2023 Deyr (October to December) floods that resulted in US$176.1 million in damages across the 16 districts assessed in the rapid post-disaster needs assessment.

Rain-induced flooding during the Gu (April to June) 2024 season destroyed shelters, agricultural land, and schools, and disrupted water and sanitation services, leading to surges in cholera and acute watery diarrhoea. At the same time, the early cessation of rainfall in May 2024 negatively impacted national crop production levels. With a 70 per cent likelihood of La Niňa conditions from the last quarter of 2024 through February 2025, southern and central regions and Puntland anticipate hotter and drier conditions. The outlook for 2025 is bleak if these conditions persist. Anticipated below-average Deyr rains in 2024, critical for crop production, will aggravate food insecurity and exacerbate drinking water scarcity for approximately 300,000 people across 10 districts in central and southern states. Approximately 1.6 million children under the age of five are expected to experience acute malnutrition between August 2024 and July 2025, with more than 400,000 facing severe acute malnutrition.²

The situation is compounded by widespread conflict and insecurity that affects some 4.5 million people in 20 districts and poses significant challenges to humanitarian access. Ongoing military offensives by government forces against Al-Shabaab, as well as an escalation of clan violence since June 2024 routinely trigger population movements; over seventy clan clashes were recorded in 2024. Between January and October 2024, close to 395,000 people were forcibly displaced, and often moved towards urban centers such as Baidoa, Kismayo and Banadir. Conflict is one of the key drivers of displacement. More than 11,000 protection incidents linked to displacement were recorded between January and October 2024.

Beletweyne, Hirshabelle State, Somalia

Heavy rains in the Ethiopian highlands flooded farmlands in villages around Beletweyne district in September 2024. This flood-prone area has experienced severe events in recent years.

HIWA/Hussein Gure

The cumulative effect of both violence and climate shocks continues to drive displacement, destroy livelihoods, leaving millions of people in urgent need of assistance. The living conditions for internally displaced people (IDPs) are extremely difficult. In addition to limited services and other challenges in displacement sites, between January and September 2024, over 150,000 IDPs were forcibly evicted due to ambiguous land ownership and a lack of legal protection, a figure projected to exceed 200,000 by the end of 2024.

Children face severe impacts from various shocks and make up more than 60 per cent of displaced in Somalia. There are 4.5 million out-of-school children in Somalia (56 per cent), with enrollment rates particularly low among displaced children. Children face significant risks, including recruitment by armed groups, killing, maiming, and abduction. By August 2024, 10,000 unaccompanied and separated children and 1,940 grave child rights violations were recorded. These included 370 children recruited by parties to the conflict, marking a 20 per cent increase from the same period in 2023.

Women remain extremely vulnerable, facing persistent discrimination and exclusion from assistance, especially those from minority clans. Rising costs of basic goods and economic disruptions are pushing families—especially women-headed households—toward negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage and transactional sex. Funding shortfalls have restricted access to specialized protection services in 2024.

Mogadishu, Banadir, Somalia

Farxiya and her one-year-old son Abdirahman at Banadir Hospital during a UNICEF visit in April. The child, treated for cholera, has shown marked improvement.

UNICEF

In 2025, 5.98 million people will require humanitarian assistance in Somalia, down 13 per cent from 6.9 million in 2024. This reduction largely reflects a stricter scope-setting approach, identifying 9.2 million people, or 48 per cent of the population, affected by multiple shocks, allowing for a more focused analysis. In addition, Deyr 2023 and Gu 2024 rainfall helped replenish groundwater sources which, coupled with investments in sustainable water supply systems, contributed to a decrease of humanitarian needs. However, these gains are at risk, as funding shortages have led to reduced and suspended assistance.

Only the Education and Food Security Clusters³ report rising needs. For education, this is due to an increased rate of out-of-school children in 2024 compared to 2023, and the inclusion of children aged 5 in the 2025 analysis. For food security, the increase reflects worsening food security linked to forecasted La Niña conditions for the Deyr 2024, essential for crop production in 2025.

Jowhar, Hirshabelle State, Somalia

Two women from Maandheere collect water together, showing resilience and unity amid daily challenges.

IOM/Abdirahman Mahamud

Response priorities in 2025

In 2025, 4.6 million people will be targeted for humanitarian assistance, an 11 per cent decrease from 5.2 million people in 2024. This reduction is in line with the reduced People in Need and follows similar boundary setting parameters as the previous year.⁴ The expected funding environment for 2025 was mapped against operational capacity and current response levels to inform boundary setting. Funding shortages and significant access constraints hindered the 2024 response, with humanitarians projecting to meet less than half of the 2024 HNRP target by year-end. This underscores the importance of realistic targets to provide lifesaving and life-sustaining assistance to people in need.

Severity of needs is one of the main parameters for targeting. The Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) Area of Responsibility (AoR) target increased considerably from 616,000 in 2024 to 918,819 in 2025. Persistent, multiple shocks exacerbated HLP needs, with forced evictions severely undermining humanitarian efforts, through the destruction of critical infrastructure, including schools, water points, protection sites and health centers. By August, forced evictions were estimated to have impacted over US$3.5 million worth of humanitarian investments. The 2025 focus will pivot towards scaling up eviction-prevention strategies to address these far-reaching risks.

Doolow, Jubaland State, Somalia

In Doolow, cyclical drought, flooding and conflict drives waves of displacement impacting communities across southern Somalia. Doolow hosts five IDP sites, primarily sheltering women and children. Here in Qansaxely site, women engage in agricultural activities that are helping transform agri-food systems and strengthen community resilience.

In 2025, humanitarians will expand on the Integrated Response Framework and area-based coordination mechanisms, that decentralize coordination and bring the response closer to affected people. This approach will strengthen the timely provision of an integrated, first-line response for newly displaced people and newly accessible areas, addressing long-standing and systemic issues of a supply-driven, fragmented response. Integrating nutrition with health, WASH, and protection initiatives, for instance, will improve overall health outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Some clusters set additional parameters to ensure the targeting of people in need in hard-to-reach districts, reinforcing the humanitarian community’s commitment to address severe access constraints and deliver a frontline response. Aside from the sobering funding outlook, rigorous prioritization contributed to reductions in target numbers. The Protection Cluster for instance, will focus its interventions strictly on conflict affected areas such as Jubaland, Puntland and Galmudug States.

The transition from the African Union Transition Mission to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in 2025 has the potential to shift current security dynamics, requiring close monitoring, flexible access strategies, and concerted efforts to maintain and extend humanitarian access.

The humanitarian response in Somalia is informed by risks, including drought and conflict. As a La Niňa event risks a relapse into drought-like conditions, the humanitarian response will need to anticipate needs, invest in anticipatory action. Strategic partnerships and humanitarian-development collaboration will be pivotal in preventing future skyrocketing of humanitarian needs.

Mataban, Hirshabelle State, Somalia

Mahad, a farmer in Mataban, restores productivity to his land after receiving training from IOM.

IOM

Financial requirements

In 2025, financial requirements have decreased by 10 per cent from last year, from $1.6 billion to $1.43 billion, reflecting reductions in the people in need and target numbers. Integrated response provision planning further contributed to reducing the financial requirements.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

Flood

The 2024 Somalia HNRP integrated anticipatory action for predictable shocks into the response planning for the first time. This allowed partners to have the necessary resources ready when needed, and to pre-position supplies and services in regional supply hubs to successfully support thousands of people at risk from both riverine and flash floods during the Gu season. The Logistics Cluster played a key role in supporting humanitarian partners by facilitating the transport of 27 boats to and from 10 flood-affected areas. The WASH Cluster supported thousands of displaced communities from nine pre-positioned supply hubs.

Coordination

Moreover, coordination at district level was further strengthened and was pivotal in responding to displacement due to clan fighting in Luuq. An area-based approach in Banadir and Baidoa saw a shift from site-level to catchment-level management and a progressive shift of the camp management response to the most highly populated IDP sites, optimizing service delivery.

Acute watery diarrhea and cholera

Acute watery diarrhea and cholera soared in 2024. The humanitarian response was able to contain these in most areas due to effective inter-cluster coordination efforts—especially between the health and WASH sectors and the Ministry of Health (MoH)—and donor support. This was a critical factor in the overall reduction of acute malnutrition prevalence, as well as in lowering morbidity and mortality rates in Somalia, particularly among children under five years of age.

Humanitarian assistance

Despite significant challenges, the Shelter Cluster supported close to 940,000 people with kits; however, 76 per cent of people received only partial assistance, often only one of the seven kit items. Despite funding constraints, an estimated 2.3 million people were assisted with emergency humanitarian food and livelihoods assistance in 2024. Reducing the response from 12 to 3 months due to limited funds led to food consumption gaps for the remaining nine months. An estimated 245,000 children received education in emergencies assistance.

Consequences of inaction

Low levels of funding and challenging humanitarian access have led to significant reductions of assistance and services.

Health facilities and learning spaces closure

In the first half of 2024, 116 health facilities closed due to funding shortages, depriving hundreds of thousands of people of essential health and nutrition services. In addition, 70,000 children risk losing access to education as 340 learning spaces face closure by the end of the year.

Protection

This highlights how vulnerable groups often bear the brunt of assistance scale-downs and suspensions, which increase protection risks and have far-reaching, multisectoral implications. For instance, the irregular presence of site management teams led to unreported urgent and critical needs in WASH, health and nutrition. Inadequate shelter response forced prolonged use of makeshift shelters, raising risks of gender-based violence (GBV), while roughly 825,000 vulnerable women and girls lost access to specialized GBV services and the protection desk response reduced by 95 per cent. An additional 1.4 million people missed emergency shelter and NFIs and 2.1 million people did not receive multi-purpose cash assistance, likely impairing their ability to meet their critical needs and build resilience.

Humanitarian access

Poor funding and access challenges often interplay. Insecurity and poor road conditions forced humanitarians to rely on air transport for aid delivery, limiting cargo volumes and driving up costs. Extreme access challenges in multiple districts across Lower and Middle Shabelle and in Middle Juba regions hindered emergency food and livelihood assistance. Unless funding gaps and access barriers are addressed, the lives of 1.6 million children under age five who are projected to face acute malnutrition in 2025 will be at grave risk.

South Sudan

People in Need

9.3 million

People Targeted

5.4 million

Requirements (US$)

$1.7 billion

Total population

11.3 million

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

5 / Very high

Consecutive appeals

2010 - 2025

Crisis overview

In 2025, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) will target 5.4 million people—40 per cent of South Sudan’s population of 13.4 million—with humanitarian assistance. While the overall population in need has increased compared to last year, the 2025 target is lower than in 2024. This reflects the Humanitarian Country Team’s (HCT) decision to prioritize the most acute humanitarian needs driven by shocks over areas affected by chronic issues, which require other planning frameworks. These shocks include armed clashes and intercommunal violence, climatic events such as floods and droughts, disease outbreaks and the effects of the conflict in Sudan.

By the end of October 2024, nearly 850,000 people had fled Sudan to seek refuge in South Sudan following the outbreak of conflict in April 2023. Between July and September 2024, approximately 940 people crossed the border daily. Among the arrivals, one quarter are Sudanese citizens seeking asylum, and the rest are South Sudanese returnees, many who lived in Sudan for decades. Many of these arrivals face extreme risks, including malnutrition, gender-based violence (GBV) and severe deprivation. Returnees and refugees need transport, shelter and sustained humanitarian assistance. With continued conflict in Sudan, South Sudan is expected to receive another 400,000 arrivals in 2025. These influxes may escalate tensions as resources and services are stretched thin.

Flooding is another significant crisis with effects likely to persist into 2025. As of 31 October 2024, floods had displaced 350,000 people and affected 1.4 million. The disaster devastated farms and livestock, disrupted access to essential services like water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health services and education, and heightened protection concerns, particularly for women and girls.

The aftermath of the 2024 floods will worsen food insecurity, helping push the number of food-insecure people from 7.1 to 7.7 million. Tight domestic food supplies, sharp currency depreciation and disruption of trade with Sudan will continue to drive up food prices, with the cost of a household minimum expenditure basket soaring by 250 per cent between January and September 2024.

Renk, Upper Nile State, South Sudan

A mother and her two children are among the thousands of refugees who fled from Sudan due to conflict that erupted in April 2023. They are heading to the Maban refugee camp in Upper Nile State. Many refugees in Maban face isolation as heavy rains and floods cut off the camps from the rest of the country.

OCHA/Liz Loh-Taylor

Malnutrition remains critically high. In 2025, an estimated 2.1 million children under age five will face acute malnutrition, and 1.1 million pregnant and lactating women will require treatment for acute malnutrition. The economic crisis is exacerbating this issue, with a projected 33 per cent increase in children experiencing severe acute malnutrition in 2025.

South Sudan’s economic problems have deepened due to the conflict-related rupture of a major oil pipeline passing through Sudan in February 2024, which slashed government oil revenues. As a result, public sector workers have been unpaid for up to 11 months, worsening economic vulnerabilities.

Delays in public sector pay could further destabilize the country. Transitional governance under the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan has been extended until 2026, potentially fueling social and political uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the outlook for humanitarian funding remains grim. Needs are growing in other regions, and major donors have announced funding cuts. The political situation complicates efforts by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and bilateral development agencies to plan.

Bentiu, Unity State, South Sudan

An aid worker screens a child for malnutrition at the Bentiu State Hospital Stabilization Centre, operated by a humanitarian partner. In 2024, an estimated 1.65 million children aged 6-59 months were at risk of acute malnutrition in South Sudan, including 480,000 million expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and 1.17 million from moderate acute malnutrition.

OCHA/Liz Loh-Taylor

Response priorities in 2025

In 2025, the HCT will continue implementing its two-year vision for humanitarian action in South Sudan adopted in 2024. This vision focuses on three strategic objectives;

Reduce morbidity and mortality among vulnerable crisis-affected people by providing equitable, safe and dignified access to life-saving assistance.
Mitigate protection risks for vulnerable crisis-affected people by upholding the commitment to the centrality of protection in humanitarian action, guided by community priorities.
Strengthen vulnerable people’s capacity to withstand shocks and optimize linkages between humanitarian, development and peace actors for longer-term resilience.

In 2024, humanitarian partners delivered timely, life-saving, multisectoral assistance, improving survival rates and reducing morbidity among the most vulnerable populations, especially new arrivals from Sudan. By the end of 2024, 5 million people-83 per cent of the targeted 6 million-are projected to have received life-saving humanitarian assistance and protection services to new arrivals at border reception centres, onward transportation to destination counties, and emergency aid for dignified reintegration. Food security partners delivered emergency food to 2.3 million people, meeting 65 per cent of the target and addressing critical needs, including those arrivals from Sudan.

Aid in Action

Listening and empowering communities to shape their own futures

Bor, Jonglei State, South Sudan

A group of displaced people now have access to land to grow their own crops. Their first harvest has been a bumper one and they look forward to food self-sufficiency after years of handouts.

Norwegian Refugee Council/Kuot Bona

The Flagship Initiative, launched in 2023, aims to reshape humanitarian action by prioritizing the needs and aspirations of crisis-affected communities. South Sudan is one of the pilot countries for this initiative.

In Taragok, Jonglei State, humanitarian agencies met with displaced people to hear their concerns. The message was clear: they didn’t want food aid. After three years of living on handouts and being uprooted from home, they yearned to return to farming and provide for themselves.

The agencies listened and took the feedback seriously. Some received seeds and tools from aid agencies and were able to harvest a good crop. Humanitarian agencies had successfully lobbied local government and community leaders to allocate land to displaced people. With land secured, the community took charge of the rest.

A year later, in October 2024, humanitarian workers revisited Taragok to hear how things had progressed from the same group of people. The message this time was strikingly different: “The harvest was good, and we have food for our families. We have also assisted our neighbours who did not participate in our first farming season,” said Mary Achol. Evidence of a bumper harvest, mainly of sorghum, was everywhere. “From 2020 to 2023, we relied on humanitarian assistance, including food aid, with no obvious impact on our well-being,” Achol reflected.

This shift from passive recipients of food aid to active participants in their own recovery, has transformed the lives of over 400 families. Those who were once dependent on food aid are now providers for themselves and even others.

This is just the beginning in Taragok. In the coming season, 200 more families will join the journey toward self-sufficiency, clearing land and planting vegetables, ground nuts, maize and of course, even more sorghum.

For 2025, the HCT has provided strategic guidance to the HNRP process, emphasizing acute humanitarian needs caused by shocks. The response will prioritize counties classified as priority levels 1 and 2, where needs are most severe and where inter-sectoral shock-driven needs converge. This is based on the Joint Inter-sectoral Analysis Framework severity classification, along with additional information on shock intensity, expert inputs and partner perspectives. Clusters will coordinate to deliver integrated response activities wherever possible.

Counties classified as priority level 3 will be included in the response plan for six months, allowing targeting seasonal peaks of acute need. The Needs Analysis Working Group will monitor all counties and adjust priorities as conditions evolve. In lower-priority counties (priority levels 3 to 5), the HCT will establish a monitoring framework to continuously analyze humanitarian needs. A contingency mechanism will ensure rapid response if new crises emerge, or conditions worsen.

To address the root causes of recurring needs in lower-priority counties and protect communities from worsening conditions, the Humanitarian Coordinator and the HCT will lead a coordinated, multi-stakeholder engagement process. This approach seeks to foster collaboration among government entities, IFIs, development actors, the private sector and other stakeholders. The goal is to create sustainable, long-term solutions that build resilience, promote stability and help transition communities from emergency relief to sustainable recovery.

The HCT will also prioritize quality and inclusive programming by collectively mitigating protection risks, establishing referral systems, enhancing risk management to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse and scaling up community engagement to promote accountability to affected people. Revitalized synergies between the Communications and Community Engagement Working Group and the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse task force, as well as other cross-cutting thematic groups will enhance feedback mechanisms and improve responsiveness to community needs.

Upper Nile State, South Sudan

Musa, a 26-year-old Sudanese refugee, boards a truck from the Renk transit site to the Maban refugee camp. The Government and humanitarian partners are providing transportation to refugee camps and final destinations, easing overcrowding at transit centres. However, efforts are hindered by insecurity and poor road conditions.

OCHA/Liz Loh-Taylor

Financial requirements

In 2025, the humanitarian community in South Sudan will target 5.4 million people at a cost of US$1.7 billion. This is a reduction from 2024 requirements due to the prioritization and stricter definitions set for the response (priority 1 and 2 counties for the full year and priority 3 counties for six months). The cost per person for most clusters has increased due to inflation and higher operating costs in the country. Unit-based costing was used to calculate the financial requirements for the 2025 HNRP.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

By 31 December 2024, 5 million women, girls, boys and men across South Sudan –83 per cent of the 6 million targeted under the 2024 HNRP—are projected to have received humanitarian assistance and protection services, including 2.75 million females and 2.25 million males.

Key achievements for 2024 include:

Food Security and Livelihood

Over 3.5 million people received food assistance, livelihood support or cash transfers.

Health

More than 1.8 million people accessed health care.

Protection

Approximately 1.4 million people benefited from protection services.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

About 1.1 million people accessed safe water.

Nutrition

Nearly 1.3 million children and pregnant and lactating women received emergency nutritional assistance.

Shelter

An estimated 555,400 people received essential household items and emergency shelter.

Camp coordination and management

Nearly 940,700 people were supported through camp coordination and management services.

Education

Over 544,000 children accessed emergency education support.

Consequences of inaction

Funding shortfalls between January and May 2024 meant only 65 per cent of the food assistance target was reached, with 90 per cent receiving only half rations. This exacerbated food insecurity and malnutrition. Livelihoods support reached just 21 per cent of the target, undermining emergency food production which could have been achieved through seeds and tools distribution, likely worsening food insecurity in 2025.

In August, a supply pipeline break in the WASH Cluster left partners without critical supplies. This led to a 14 per cent increase in water-related illnesses compared to the same period in 2023, and a rise in malnutrition. Insufficient WASH interventions contributed to a nationwide spike in clinic visits for diseases linked to poor water quality and sanitation.

Humanitarian operations in South Sudan faced severe access constraints in 2024:

Humanitarian access

Attacks on aid workers and facilities increased alongside over 120 checkpoints on main supply routes, causing delays, searches and demands for irregular payments which restricted humanitarian actors’ ability to pre-position supplies.

Physical access

Flooding rendered over 60 per cent of key supply routes impassable at times, particularly in Upper Nile.

Bureaucratic impediment

Local authorities imposed arbitrary taxes, fees and burdensome registration requirements, increasing costs and causing delays.

Attacks

Attacks on humanitarian convoys, such as those in Jonglei State, resulted in staff endangerment and looting of essential supplies.

Insecurity

Abductions of humanitarian staff in July further strained operations.

Sudan

People in Need

30.4 million

People Targeted

20.9 million

Requirements (US$)

$4.2 billion

Total population

47.5 million

Income level

Low income

INFORM Severity Index

5 / Very high

Consecutive appeals

1993 - 2025

Crisis overview

After more than 20 months of relentless conflict, Sudan has become one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Ongoing armed conflict and attacks against civilians, displacement, hunger, malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks have left nearly two-thirds of the population in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection services.

The conflict has triggered massive displacement, with some 11.5 million people having fled their homes since the fighting began in April 2023, many of whom were already living in situations of displacement. In total, roughly 11 million people are currently estimated to remain internally displaced within the country’s borders, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. A further 3 million people have crossed into neighbouring countries. Children make up well over half of the displaced population.

Sudan is also experiencing an unprecedented hunger crisis, with close to 26 million people suffering from acute food insecurity as of late September. The situation is particularly dire for those trapped in conflict zones, including in Aj Jazirah, North Darfur and Khartoum states, and in the Kordofan region. In late July, famine conditions were confirmed in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, with similar conditions likely in other displacement sites in the area, and many other locations at imminent risk.

Recent nutrition surveys reveal a worsening situation, with a global acute malnutrition rate of 13.6 per cent in surveyed areas, placing Sudan among the four countries with the highest rates. The 2025 outlook suggests further deterioration, especially as conflict intensifies in parts of the country as of October 2024.

Port Sudan, Sudan

A young girl prepares breakfast cooking Gorasah—a traditional bread—in Um Algurah school, which now shelters internally displaced families.

WFP/Abubaker Garelnabei

In addition to the spreading conflict, climate shocks—including unusually heavy rains and flooding—and disease outbreaks like cholera, malaria, and measles, are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis. The conflict has placed 24 million children at severe risk, with over 17 million out of school, creating a true generational catastrophe. School-aged girls face additional threats including child marriage, female genital mutilation, and sexual exploitation and abuse.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence. The fighting has caused mass displacement, and shocking patterns of sexual violence against women and girls, indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, widespread damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure, attacks on health care facilities and ethnically motivated killings. Children continue to be killed and maimed, subjected to sexual violence, recruited by armed actors and denied essential services and humanitarian assistance. Women and girls face increased risk of conflict-related sexual violence, with an estimated 12.1 million people in need of gender-based violence (GBV) services. Most conflict-affected areas are now heavily contaminated by large-scale explosive hazards.

Access to essential services has sharply declined due to the conflict. In the worst-hit areas, less than 25 per cent of health facilities remain functional, and national vaccination coverage has plummeted from 85 per cent before the war, to around 50 per cent. In active conflict zones the rates are averaging at 30 per cent.

The levels of need are staggering. While assistance is reaching many areas, with local communities and networks playing a critical role, humanitarian access challenges severely limit the ability of humanitarian organizations to scale up, especially in high-conflict zones where needs are generally most acute.

Kasala, Sudan

Crowds gather at a mobile clinic in the West Airport displacement settlement, where Alight, an organization supported by the Sudan Humanitarian Fund, became the first partner to address health needs after the settlement opened in August 2024.

OCHA/Yao Chen

Response priorities in 2025

As Sudan’s humanitarian crisis enters its third year of conflict in early 2025, the new Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) aims to address rapidly escalating needs in a constantly changing and highly complex operational environment. With millions of people facing extreme deprivation, displacement, and violence, the humanitarian response focuses on alleviating suffering and preventing further deterioration, carefully balancing urgent priorities with the many constraints imposed by ongoing conflict.

The 2025 HNRP seeks to support 20.9 million people with urgent life-saving support and services, requiring US$4.16 billion in funding. The planning process has taken into account the severity of needs in conflict-affected regions, including Darfur, Kordofan, and the greater Khartoum area, and the urgent need to secure unhindered access for humanitarian workers and supplies. The HNRP’s boundaries are determined by balancing these needs with the realities of humanitarian access constraints, operational capacity, and ensuring the safety of humanitarian staff in an unpredictable and often dangerous context.

Protection remains central to the response, with a focus on conflict-sensitive assistance to address the dire protection needs, including emerging risks, such GBV which has disproportionately affected women, children, and ethnic minorities, and other child protection issues. Expanded protection services will promote accountability for human rights violations and compliance with international humanitarian norms, particularly in the hardest-hit conflict zones.

At the same time, the plan aims to provide safe, dignified, and equitable access to critical basic services and livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable, aiming to preserve their coping abilities. Securing access through ongoing negotiations with all parties to the conflict will be essential to ensuring aid reaches those in need. The fluidity of the conflict means humanitarian actors will need to regularly reassess the situation, adjusting their operations and priorities to meet evolving needs and changes on the ground.

El Fasher, Sudan

In Sudan, conflict's impact on children is stark—sadness, fear, and hopelessness—weigh heavily on their lives. The exposure causes deep emotional stress with lasting health and psychosocial impacts. Adam, 9, was displaced from Tawila and shares his exhaustion from war, and his dreams of peace: “I wish world leaders would come here, greet me and the people of Tawila, and help us achieve peace and stop the war.”

UNICEF

Given the continuing constraints in access and operational capacity, the 2025 HNRP emphasizes strengthening local partnerships and localization to ensure effective and appropriate delivery of health, education, and protection services in areas where international access remains limited. Increased direct funding to local responders will continue to be promoted.

The $4.16 billion funding requirement reflects both the immense scale of the crisis and the need for flexible funding mechanisms that allow humanitarian actors to respond swiftly to the most urgent needs, whether in relation to food security, health, nutrition, WASH or protection. Flexibility will also enable scaling up in regions where access improves, to prevent further deterioration of the situation.

The response, however, anticipates continued access challenges in 2025, particularly in conflict-affected areas. Ensuring sustainable operational capacity, especially regarding the safety and security of humanitarian workers, will remain a significant hurdle.

In conclusion, the 2025 HNRP for Sudan seeks to expand life-saving assistance, strengthen centrality of protection efforts across the operation, and adapt to the complex realities of the ongoing conflict. By focusing on protection, building local partnerships, and ensuring additional and flexible funding, the humanitarian community aims to prevent further deterioration of the situation and meet the urgent lifesaving needs of Sudan’s most vulnerable populations. Without these measures, millions more will remain at risk of hunger, displacement, and violence.

Kasala, Sudan

In November 2024, a UNHCR team visited people displaced by armed violence in Aj Jazirah, now sheltered at Nahr Atbara.

OCHA/Yao Chen

Financial requirements

The 2025 HNRP requires $4.16 billion to meet the needs of 20.9 million people using an activity-based costing methodology.

Several key factors drive the cost of humanitarian operations in Sudan:

Scale of the crisis: In one of the largest and most acute crises in the world, 30.4 million people require assistance. This represents a 23 per cent increase from last year, demanding substantial resources to provide necessities.
Complexity and volatility: The multifaceted nature of the crisis, with numerous underlying causes, complicates the delivery of effective and efficient humanitarian assistance. The unpredictable security situation further hampers operations, often requiring additional resources to mitigate risks for humanitarian workers.
Logistical challenges: Poor infrastructure and limited access to many areas significantly raise the costs of transporting supplies and personnel to where they are most needed.
Inflation: The high cost of basic goods and services in Sudan, driven by inflation, further increases the overall operational expenses.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

In response to the severity of the situation, the humanitarian strategy and operational priorities were revised in 2024. In April, a Famine Prevention Plan was launched to mobilize resources and sharpen the focus on key priorities, while an International Conference for Sudan and neighbouring countries, held in Paris raised over $2 billion for Sudan and the region. The Sudan Operations Coordination Center was established in Port Sudan in July, integrating with the existing IASC structure. Humanitarian hubs were set up to decentralize coordination and bring aid closer to affected communities. Humanitarian actors promoted cash and voucher assistance programmes, increased partner presence, and extended support to community-based responders and grassroots organizations. Collaborating with women-led organizations, humanitarians delivered a multisectoral response. Advocacy and engagement with relevant parties also improved humanitarian access. The reopening of the Adre border crossing between Chad and Sudan facilitated the flow of essential relief supplies to severely affected areas.

Despite access challenges and funding gaps, about 159 humanitarian partners in Sudan reached about 12 million of the 14.7 million people targeted for assistance with some form of humanitarian assistance at least once between January 2024 and the end of October, according to the latest Sudan Humanitarian Response Dashboard. Key achievements include providing:

Food and livelihood

Food and livelihood support to 11 million people

Water, sanitation and hygiene

WASH assistance to 9 million people

Health

Health services to 2 million people

Nutrition

Nutrition support to 1 million people

However, many received aid just once, with significant gaps in essential services, and some of the most critical areas remain effectively cut off from external aid for much of the year.

Consequences of inaction

Food insecurity

If the humanitarian operations fail, tens of millions of people will continue to suffer from acute food insecurity, with a risk that famine conditions will spread into more areas of the country, causing death and disease and further waves of displacement.

Gender-Based Violence

About 6 million women and girls bearing the brunt of the conflict will not be able to access services to prevent and mitigate the disproportionate risk of GBV. Eighty per cent of them will struggle to access safe drinking water, with 84 per cent unable to access a minimum acceptable diet.

Health

About 5 million people, including children under the age of five and pregnant women, will face heightened threat of death due to a lack of access healthcare services. At least two-thirds of Sudan’s 18 states are already facing multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria and measles amid a collapsed public healthcare system.

Education

Sudan is facing the worst learning crisis in the world. Over 17 million children are out of school and might never continue with education, risking a lost generation.

Malnutrition

About 5 million children and pregnant and lactating women are already at elevated risk of death due to preventable diseases and malnutrition-related causes. This includes 730,000 children suffering severe acute malnutrition.

Shelter and Non-Food item

Failure to meet shelter and non-food item needs for 4.4 million displaced people in overcrowded camp and camp-like settings including open informal settlements will heighten protection risks for vulnerable groups, including GBV and discrimination.

Livelihood

About 9 million people will be unable to reverse acute hunger and restore livelihoods without urgent and timely provision of seeds and other agricultural support.

Zambia

People in Need

5.4 million

People Targeted

3.2 million

Requirements (US$)

$90.7 million

Total population

21.2 million

Income level

Lower middle income

INFORM Severity Index

Crisis overview

Prolonged droughts, economic instability and public health challenges have affected over 9.8 million people across 84 districts in need, as outlined in the Zambian government’s Response Plan (March 2024 - May 2025). The UN-led appeal identified 6.6 million people requiring immediate humanitarian assistance due to crop failures, rising food prices, malnutrition, and depleted food stocks. The crisis is compounded by the energy crisis and the broader impacts of economic and climate factors on livelihoods, income and food security.

On May 7, the UN and partners launched an appeal for $228 million to assist 4.6 million people from June to December 2024. However, as of November 2024, only 17 per cent ($39.8 million) of the appeal was funded. In response to persistent needs, the Zambia Flash Appeal was extended through June 2025, with a revised plan identifying 5.4 million people still in need, targeting 3.2 million for assistance at a cost of $91 million. The updated appeal increased the number of targeted districts from 82 to 89 in 2025.

One of Zambia's worst droughts in recent years, driven by El Niño, has severely disrupted rainfall patterns across the southern, western and parts of eastern provinces. Consecutive poor harvests have devastated subsistence farmers, cutting off food and income sources and triggering widespread hunger and malnutrition. Limited access to safe water sources has worsened conditions, leading to sanitation issues and increasing disease risks, including cholera outbreaks in some affected areas.

Zambia’s economic struggles have deepened vulnerabilities. Inflation has surged, driving up the cost of essentials like food and fuel, worsening poverty and limited families’ access to healthcare, education, and adequate nutrition. Many families face difficult decisions, such as reducing meals or forgoing medical care due to financial constraints.

Southern province, Zambia

A child is weighed as part of a malnutrition screening at Manungu Urban Clinic in Monze. The clinic offers a retinue of services, including reproductive health care, family planning and counselling, and child health and nutrition checkups.

UNICEF/Terence Sampa

Between October 2024 and March 2025, an estimated 5.8 million people are expected to face heightened hunger. According to IPC projections, 5.6 million people will be in IPC Phase 3 (Crisis) and 236,000 in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency). Seven districts are anticipated to shift from IPC Phase 2 (Stressed) to Phase 3, bringing the total number of hotspot districts to 89. Despite the severity of the crisis, the food security sector remains severely underfunded in 2024 at just 14 per cent, and agriculture sector funding, crucial for addressing food insecurity is 2025, is at a mere 2 per cent.

Malnutrition is a critical concern, especially among children. The 2024 SMART survey⁵ found that Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates ranged from very low (1.7 per cent) in Eastern Province to medium (6.2 per cent) in other areas. Stunting remains high nationwide, with Eastern Province showing very high levels (34.6 per cent) and significant malnutrition in Lusaka Urban, Northwestern, Central, Western, and Southern provinces, where stunting rates exceed WHO threshold of 30 per cent. As food insecurity worsens, malnutrition rates are expected to rise, increasing the need for targeted nutritional support to address the growing numbers of stunted and underweight children.

Disease outbreaks, such as cholera and malaria, are widespread in drought-affected areas with limited access to clean water and sanitation. There is also a rising risk of mpox and a potential large-scale cholera outbreak, further threatens the strained healthcare system. As of late 2024, the health sector under the Flash Appeal remains completely underfunded, making enhanced healthcare support essential to prevent mortality among vulnerable populations.

The convergence of drought, economic instability and potential health crises means Zambia’s humanitarian situation remains dire. Sustained international support is vital to meet immediate needs, including food security, malnutrition and disease outbreaks, while building resilience to mitigate the long-term impacts. Additional funding is urgently required to reduce suffering, strengthen resilience and support its communities through these ongoing challenges.

Lusaka, Zambia

A boy scoops water out of a ditch that lies below an outhouse in George Compound, an unplanned settlement in the Matero neighbourhood of Lusaka.

UNICEF/Terence Sampa

Response priorities in 2025

In 2024, the response prioritized the most vulnerable households in the drought-affected Southern, Western and Eastern Provinces, where food insecurity was severe due to poor harvests. By September 2024, food assistance had reached only 375,000 people—just 14 per cent of the target for the year. Health and nutrition interventions prioritized regions facing malnutrition and disease outbreaks, while WASH efforts aimed to improve access to clean water, in cholera-affected areas. Livelihood programmes provided agricultural inputs and drought-resistant seeds to help rural households sustain their income.

Despite these efforts, operational challenges such as underfunding and resource constraints limited the response. By the end of 2024, only 2 million of the 4.6 million targeted people will receive some form of assistance. Protection services covered only 23 per cent of those targeted, while critical sectors like health and education served less than 1 per cent of their respective people targeted. Nutrition services reached 69 per cent of their target, but WASH initiatives covered only 17 per cent. Food security interventions reached just 14 per cent, and agricultural support a mere 2 per cent, underscoring significant funding gaps that need to be addressed in 2025.

Looking ahead, the revised Drought Response Appeal targets 3.2 million people and requires $91 million to support essential needs from January to June 2025. The response will focus on food security, nutrition, agriculture, WASH and protection, with an emphasis on households in the most affected regions. The food security sector aims to assist 1.77 million people across 38 vulnerable districts and requires $47 million. Nutrition programs will expand to address urgent needs among children under five and pregnant women, targeting 1 million people with $6 million. Due to limited resources, assistance will focus on the most severely affected households, leaving others at risk of hunger.

Chilenje market, Zambia

UNICEF/Mapalo Mwenya

WASH initiatives will play a critical role in controlling disease spread and supporting public health. Efforts will prioritize communities with severe water scarcity and high disease risk, providing safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene education. WASH services target 1.6 million people in 2025 with a $4.8 million requirement, but funding shortfalls may leave moderately impacted communities vulnerable to health risks.

Agricultural and livelihood support in 2025 will focus on rural households impacted by drought, providing essential resources for food production and income stability. The agriculture sector aims to reach 1.3 million people with a $22 million budget.

Protection services will address drought-related issues like child labour, child marriage, and GBV, targeting 1.2 million people across 68 districts, with a $1.7 million budget. Health interventions will focus on basic healthcare and disease control, particularly in areas with high levels of malnutrition or cholera and malaria outbreaks. Collaborating with national health systems, the health sector aims to assist 800,000 people, requiring $2 million. By September 2024, the sector had reached only 2,700 people –less than 1 per cent of its target for the year.

The drought’s impact on education will also be addressed through the Ministry of Education’s response plan, prioritizing school feeding programmes to improve attendance in affected districts. This initiative, targeting 1.8 million learners, requires $7.2 million.

In 2025, Zambia’s response will focus on communities with the most urgent needs to maximize limited resources. This approach will leave some moderately affected areas without support, risking further deterioration in food security, health and nutrition.

Financial requirements

As of November 2024 , only $39.8 million, or 17 per cent, of the $228 million required for the Flash Appeal was received. Overall, 3.3 million people will be targeted for 2025 with the $90.7 million needed for January to June 2025 programming. This is based on the revised Flash Appeal which incorporates the new assessment and operational capacity.

From the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), $5.5 million has been allocated to four UN agencies—WFP, FAO, UNICEF and UNHCR. These agencies, in collaboration with cluster partners, will address food security (both agriculture and food assistance), WASH, nutrition and protection. This support targets 560,000 people, including 50,000 refugees affected by the drought.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

In 2024, Zambia’s humanitarian response made critical progress in addressing urgent needs despite significant challenges. However, due to funding constraints, partners are only expected to reach 2 million people, —43 per cent of the 4.6 million targeted. This limited reach has severe consequences.

Food

By the end of September 2024, over 1.4 million of the 1.7 million people targeted for food assistance remained unreached. Meanwhile, 98 per cent of those targeted for agriculture assistance did not receive support, which could have mitigated food insecurity in 2025. Persistent high rates of food insecurity have triggered ripple effects, including worsening nutrition, health and protection conditions, with affected families increasingly turning to negative coping mechanisms. In some areas, food insecurity has driven an increase in human- wildlife conflict with people turning to hunting wild animals for food.

Nutrition

Nutrition has had the highest reach, assisting 69 per cent of its target population. However, the high prevalence of food insecurity continues to sharply increase malnutrition risks, especially among children and pregnant women, likely driving up the number of people in need.

Consequences of inaction

Basic needs

Failure to act decisively risks exacerbating food insecurity and other critical issues. Underfunding has already forced the response to operate at a bare minimum, with vulnerable populations receiving just 50 kilograms of maize or a cash transfer of K400 (equivalent to $15), far below the minimum requirement to meet basic needs.

Health

Delayed responses to public health crises, such as cholera outbreaks, could lead to rapid disease spread. Without adequate humanitarian support for medical supplies, including vaccines, the overall public health situation will likely deteriorate further.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

Gaps in WASH services continue to heighten the risk of disease outbreaks, while limited access to education and healthcare deepens poverty and vulnerability. Without a significant scale-up in 2025, these crises will intensify, pushing already at-risk populations further into hardship.

Education

By September 2024, the education sector had reached less than 1 per cent of its targeted population. Reduced school feeding programmes have already led to rising school dropouts and associated risks, including increased GBV, teenage pregnancies and HIV infections. These trends are expected to worsen in 2025 if funding remains constrained.

Access

Partners have also faced access challenges in remote districts such as Shangombo, where poor road conditions impeded aid delivery. During the rainy season, heavy rainfall and flooding are likely to worsen these constraints, further restricting humanitarian operations in some districts.

Zimbabwe

People in Need

7.6 million

People Targeted

3.1 million

Requirements (US$)

$143.0 million

Total population

17.0 million

Income level

Lower middle income

INFORM Severity Index

4 / High

Crisis overview

In 2024, Zimbabwe experienced a severe El Niño-induced drought that caused widespread crop failure and water shortages. Above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall further strained vegetation and surface water availability, damaging the livestock sector and exacerbating food insecurity.

In April 2024, the Government of Zimbabwe declared an emergency, identifying 7.1 million people at risk of food insecurity. A Drought Response Flash Appeal was launched targeting 3.1 million people. By October 2024, humanitarian sectors had reached 821,834 people. Priorities for early 2025 will focus on addressing the remaining gaps for 3.1 million people at risk of food insecurity and preparing for floods during the 2024/20225 season. Rising food insecurity has triggered a surge in needs across multiple sectors including nutrition, protection, child protection, education, health and WASH. These challenges are expected to continue into 2025.

Public health threats such as cholera and acute watery diarrhoea pose significant risks, particularly in overcrowded urban areas where poor sanitation and limited access to clean water exacerbate outbreaks.

Manicaland-Buhera, Zimbabwe

The Ministry of Health and Child Care with the collaboration of UNICEF Zimbabwe & WHO Zimbabwe monitoring the Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign for protecting children and empowering communities.

UNICEF

Response priorities in 2025

The effects of the El Niño continue into the current rainy season, leaving more than 7 million people at risk of food insecurity. The humanitarian community plans to target 3.1 million of the 7.8 million people in need with various sectoral interventions.

The education sector aims to support 351,000 learners by prioritizing the provision of education support. Efforts will involve collaboration with sectors such as WASH, health, nutrition and child protection to provide necessary supplies, deliver skills training and promote disaster risk reduction for a resilient education sector.

The health sector will prioritize mitigating health risks affecting 1.6 million people, worsened by El Niño and anticipated flooding. Key priorities include strengthening surveillance, building capacity, and improving access to services including reproductive health and gender-based violence (GBV) response.

The food security and livelihoods sector plans to provide basic food assistance to 1.7 million people, addressing urgent food and nutrition needs in rural and urban communities. The number of people in need has risen from six to nine million across districts affected by El Niño.

The nutrition sector will target 700,000 children and nursing mothers, emphasizing diet diversity through initiatives such as community and household nutrition gardens and micronutrient powders for children. The response includes providing treatment for severe wasting, ensuring consistent supplies of essential nutrition commodities, conducting repeated surveillance during periods of increased malnutrition (between June 2024 and 2025), and supporting assessments and surveys.

The protection sector will address the needs of 1.4 million people at risk of GBV and child abuse as both a stand-alone and cross cutting issue. A gender-sensitive approach will be taken across all sectors to meet the needs of women and girls in drought-affected communities, in line with the IASC Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action. The sector will also ensure 700,000 children receive child-protection services. Welfare, justice and security-related services will also be available for vulnerable women, children and adolescents.

Shelter and camp management sectors will prioritize the safety, dignity and well-being of crisis-affected people, especially women and girls, in line with the GBV in Emergencies Guiding Frameworks Principles. Gender-sensitive shelters and NFIs will be provided with special considerations for children to ensure privacy and dignity. Assistance will be tailored to the unique challenges faced by each community.

Mangwe District, Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe

Mercia, the Sizanani Care Group Leader from Embakwe Village, showcases traditional food that group members prepare for their families to prevent malnutrition in the face of the El Nino-induced drought.

UNICEF

The 16,000 refugees in the settlement will require special attention, as the El Niño-induced drought has adversely affected their livelihoods. Refugees, who rely on agriculture to supplement the monthly UNHCR assistance are now facing dramatically reduced support due to funding shortfalls. Rising food prices have further eroded their purchasing power.

The WASH sector will focus on providing climate-resilient, safe water services to communities, health facilities and schools facing water insecurity. About 2.6 million people in affected districts will benefit from rehabilitated water systems and new solar-powered, multi-use water systems designed to integrate livelihood and domestic water needs, helping to build resilient communities.

Sectoral coordination will be strengthened to ensure that the 3.1 million people targeted are reached efficiently. National and international organizations will collaborate to monitor response efforts, enhance the impact of humanitarian actions, avoid duplication and address critical gaps in the response at a sectoral level.

Two out of three seasonal forecasts—European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and International Research Institute (IRI)—indicate a high probability of a below-average rainy season. A third forecast projects normal to below-normal rainfall between December and January. Based on these projections, 52 districts have been identified as priority areas, targeting 3.1 million people and requiring $143.1 million in funding. This approach aims to maximize the impact of collective humanitarian action by ensuring that the areas with greatest need are reached first.

While resilience-building efforts across the region have made important progress, communities continue to face increasingly frequent and severe droughts, leaving families with little time to recover between shocks.

Matobo District, Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe

Lingwe River lies dry in the worst El Niño-induced droughts on record that is currently sweeping the Southern Africa region.

UNICEF

Financial requirements

The overall funding requirement for the drought response from May 2024 to April 2025 is $429.3 million. Of this, $143.1 is urgently needed to sustain operations from January to April 2025, targeting the critical needs of approximately 3.1 million people.

These funds will enable partners to provide essential, life-saving assistance while supporting ongoing Government-led response efforts and strengthening national relief measures. This collaboration ensures a coordinated, efficient response that maximizes impact for those in urgent need.

2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction

Response highlights

Food assistance and livelihood support

A total of 133,219 people received food assistance and livelihood support interventions, 14,825 benefited from direct distribution of survival stockfeed, construction of 50 livestock watering troughs, and the dissemination of drought advisory and GBV awareness messages.

Health

The health sector reached 182,536 people with cholera treatment as of October 2024. The unmet WASH needs in 2024, combined with those in 2025, will expose more lives to increased suffering and put them at risk of a cholera outbreak.

Nutrition

Nutrition interventions benefited a total of 141,932 adults and children in Chipinge, Buhera, Bikita, Chiredzi and Beitbridge districts, scaling up actions for prevention of wasting due to drought impact and succeeding in maintaining proxy-GAM and proxy-SAM below 2 per cent. In 2024, nutrition needs were found in only 5 out of 29 districts. However, they are likely to increase by the end of 2024. Hence, action during the response period will be necessary to minimize malnutrition admissions and treatment in 2025.

Hygiene

A total of 236,107 people were reached with key hygiene messages on diarrhoeal prevention and management, handwashing with soap and water treatment. Additionally, 889,000 people were reached with hygiene messaging and safe access to water, out of a target of 2.2 million, leaving more than 50 per cent of affected people at risk due to insufficient information on diarrhoeal prevention and management.

Safe water

Between January and August 2024, 20,921 people in drought-prone and cholera-affected areas gained access to safe water through rehabilitation of 71 boreholes and the upgrading of 15 solar-piped water schemes across five districts. However, 15 additional critically affected districts still lack adequate access to safe drinking water. Hygiene kits were distributed to 93,252 people, over 2.1 million others in need did not receive them.

Gender-based violence

A total of 38,155 survivors received quality GBV service support through strengthened community-based mechanisms for GBV risk mitigation and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. Of these, over 26,000 people have also accessed additional services, including legal support. However, reduced funding and limited access to services continue to place survivors at risk of further harm.

Consequences of inaction

The limited funding for the El Niño Drought Response Flash Appeal—only $92.4 million of the $429million required—has severely constrained UN partners’ ability to respond to the growing needs caused by the 2024 drought.

Malnutrition

Although malnutrition is one of the best-funded sectors at 38 per cent of its target, cases of malnutrition continue to rise. If this trend persists, an additional 7,852 children will require nutrition assistance by February 2025.

Life-saving intervention

By October 2024, only 7 per cent of the target population had been reached, leaving 1,766,781 people without critical life-saving interventions. Livestock deaths are rising, with over 650 deaths recorded in a 10-day span in September 2024, further reducing farming families’ access to vital food supplies.

Education and child protection

Education and child protection sectors have not reached any of the children targeted under the Flash Appeal due to funding restraints. Key interventions, such as school feeding programmes and alternative foster care for children left behind by migrating parents, remain unimplemented. As a result, 721,000 boys and girls have missed out on protection support while 351,000 boys and girls have missed educational support. Over 9,000 school children have already dropped out, with the number expected to rise to 11,619 by December 2024.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

During drought emergencies, access to safe drinking water is vital to prevent water borne diseases such as cholera. The cholera outbreak which ended in July 2024 was exacerbated by a lack of WASH infrastructure. As of October 2024, WASH partners under the Flash Appeal, had reached only 20,921 people, far short of the 1,1 million targeted for safe drinking water and the 2.6 million people targeted for hygiene behaviour change messaging. The lack of clean, safe drinking water continues to exacerbate protection concerns, increase disease risks and contribute to poor harvests and livestock deaths.

Essential support

By November 2024, no funding had been received for the refugee response. leaving 16,000 people without essential support such as cash grants, nutrition supplements and shelter.

In 2025, continued lack of funding will force humanitarian partners to scale back support, further threatening their chances of recovery, increasing their vulnerability. This will lead to:

Food insecurity

Six million at risk of food insecurity.

Nutrition

An estimated 7, 852 children facing wasting and lack access to ready-to-use-therapeutic-feeds, worsening malnutrition rates.

Livestock

1.4 million livestock at risk of death, further destabilizing affected communities.

Education

Projected school dropouts to rise to 1.8 million in 2025, exposing children to heightened protection risks and long-term harm.

Zimbabwe mostly experiences bureaucratic impediments as partners navigate provisions related to Private Voluntary Organizations bill. These challenges occur sporadically.

References

Except shelter whose projects have terminated as people targeted have returned to their homes
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Somalia: IPC Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis (July - December 2024) Published on September 23, 2024 - Somalia | ReliefWeb
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Explosive Hazards AoR also reported an increased PiN (overall Protection PiN decreased), which can be traced back to the use of explosives in military offensives between Somalia Security Forces and Al-Shabaab, including in newly accessible areas.
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Humanitarian actors will target populations in severity 4 (none in 5) and 30% of severity 3 (excluding FSC), applying an 80% PiN target cap.
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The 2024 SMART surveys were, however, conducted in the harvest season (May 2024) compared to the lean season (November/December) when the previous surveys had been conducted hence the comparison of the findings needs to be done cautiously.
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Kori Woreda, Afar Region, Ethiopia

Global Humanitarian Overview 2025