The Pulse of Humanitarian Coordination 2024

Cluster coordination at subnational level

Subnational cluster presence

The total number of subnational clusters, sectors, and AoRs decreased significantly from 1,153 to 930. Subnational cluster coordination took place across 303 locations (less than the 322 locations in 2023) and 75 per cent of all clusters globally maintained a subnational presence (down from 76% in 2023). Health (122), Gender-Based Violence (119), Food Security (110), Nutrition (93), and Shelter (87) had the largest number of subnational clusters.

Operations with the highest number of subnational clusters in 2024 included Ethiopia (85), Yemen (74), South Sudan (69), Sudan (60), and Somalia (63). While most operations experienced a decrease in subnational cluster presence compared to 2023, a few saw notable increases. These included Burkina Faso, which added 4 subnational clusters; Ukraine, with an increase of 10; the oPt which added 16; and Lebanon, which saw the largest increase with 18 additional clusters. The most significant decrease in subnational cluster presence occurred in Sudan, where the number of subnational clusters dropped sharply from 112 in 2023 to 60 in 2024.

Subnational cluster leadership

In 2024, United Nations entities held 61 per cent of lead, co-lead, and co-chair roles for clusters at the subnational levels, marking an increase from 56 per cent in 2023. International NGOs held 14 per cent of subnational cluster leadership roles in 2024, national NGOs held 7 per cent of these roles, while the prominence of local/national authorities in subnational cluster leadership decreased from 20 per cent in 2023 to 16 per cent in 2024. The Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement also continued to assume a small role in cluster leadership at the subnational level at 0.1 per cent.

Subnational cluster coordinator capacity

In 2024, the proportion of dedicated subnational cluster coordinators declined to 25 per cent in 2024, down from 31 per cent in 2023. Decreased capacities were compounded by the fact that the majority of cluster coordinators at subnational level were double-hatting (61%). Meanwhile, the share of positions that were vacant or had no designated coordinator increased from 4 per cent to 6 per cent.

Only three countries maintained relatively moderate-high levels of dedicated subnational coordination capacity: oPt (86%), Afghanistan (65%), and Yemen (56%). Overall, in addition to Afghanistan and Yemen, four operations increased capacity from 2023 levels: Chad (21% to 27%), Mali (23% to 26%), Madagascar (4% to 20%), and Central African Republic (3% to 4%).

In contrast, Sudan and Niger experienced a complete loss of capacity, dropping to zero per cent from 1% and 20% in 2023, respectively. Overall, six operations had less than 10 per cent capacity in 2024: Haiti (8%), Syria (4%), Central African Republic (4%), Colombia (3%), Sudan (0%), and Niger (0%). The most significant reductions in subnational cluster coordinator capacities were observed in Haiti (62% to 8%), Mozambique (70% to 36%), and Ukraine (62% to 33%).

Subnational cluster capacity in information management

Dedicated information officers (IMOs) were present in 10 per cent of subnational clusters, reflecting a further increase from 2023 and 2022 levels (9% and 6%, respectively). Double-hatting IMOs saw a decrease to 9 per cent from 11 per cent in 2023 and 14 per cent in 2022, while partial information management coverage increased from 1 per cent to 3 per cent. This leaves 73 per cent of subnational clusters with vacant or no IM coverage, down from 79 per cent in 2023.

Three countries maintained or reached strong subnational IMO capacity in 2024 at 36 per cent; Mozambique increased from 13 per cent, showing the most significant improvement, oPt maintained from 2023, and Chad decreased only slightly from 38 per cent. Other countries experienced minimal improvements: Yemen (27% to 28%), Central African Republic (22% to 28%), Ethiopia (19% to 20%), Ukraine (6% to 8%), Myanmar (2% to 5%), and Syria-Damascus (2% to 4%).

Several countries maintained similar levels of low IMO capacity between 2023 and 2024, while, other than Chad, only Mali (17% to 12%) reported a decline. Venezuela, Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Niger, Madagascar, Haiti, Colombia, and Burkina Faso all remained with no capacity in both years, while, other than oPt, others like Afghanistan (2%), Cameroon (6%), South Sudan (6%), and Democratic Republic of Congo (26%) maintained similar levels.