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Current Requirements (US$)$143.1 million
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.
UNICEFResponse 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.
UNICEFThe 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.
UNICEFFinancial 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.
Zimbabwe
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.