As long as humans inhabit the earth, we will experience humanitarian crises. Economic collapses, infrastructure failure, public health emergencies, international relations, and climate change are only some of the factors that reliably contribute to large-scale threats to health, safety and quality of life for populations large and small.
Humanitarian emergencies and the context in which they occur are constantly changing, so it’s impossible to provide a comprehensive view of the world’s most critical challenges at any given time. In this article, the team behind the online Master of Science in Humanitarian Action at the University of San Diego provides a summary of some of the most pressing global humanitarian crises in 2024, as well as rising trends and some of the organizations currently providing life-saving aid.
What is a Humanitarian Crisis or Emergency?
Events that escalate to the level of crisis are highly varied and can have equally varied effects. According to UNICEF, a humanitarian crisis is considered “any circumstance where humanitarian needs are sufficiently large and complex to require significant external assistance and resources, and where a multi-sectoral response is needed, with the engagement of a wide range of international humanitarian actors.”
The Humanitarian Coalition offers a slightly simpler, and more inclusive, definition for humanitarian emergency: “An event or series of events that represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or wellbeing of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area.” This definition, unlike UNICEF’s, does not exclude crises that may not necessitate external intervention.
These events can be caused by any number of factors, from natural disasters, to armed conflict, to famine, epidemics, or any combination thereof. Crises and their effects unfold on a broad spectrum of time — some last a matter of months until the situation is brought under control, while some can last decades. Likewise, some are acute and immediate while others are more slow-moving or systemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is a recent example of one of the worst and most complex humanitarian crises in modern history due to its devastating impacts on global health, trade, politics and migration.
15 Important Humanitarian Crises to Know in 2024
What follows is a non-exhaustive list of some of the most critical humanitarian emergencies, appearing in alphabetical order by location. Those working in or considering entering the field of humanitarian aid are advised to keep abreast of events like these, including the actions being taken to mitigate their effects. A list of resources to follow developing crises is included at the end of this section.
Afghanistan
In a population of 41.7 million, roughly two thirds of the inhabitants of Afghanistan (28.3 million) are in need of some form of aid. The Middle Eastern country has been engaged in regular conflict since 1978, but the most recent threats to the population’s wellbeing include the 2021 government takeover by the Taliban and a series of devastating earthquakes. Some argue that the harsh restrictions and punishments imposed by the fundamentalist Taliban regime qualify as a human rights violation, and that treating the current situation as a humanitarian crisis renders humanitarians working with the government culpable in perpetuating it.
Nevertheless, Afghans fleeing their country comprise one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Those who remain face challenges including widespread poverty; limited access to food, clean water, electricity, safe roads and education; mass closures of health clinics despite the spread of COVID-19; gender-based violence and assault against women and girls; extreme weather events; and civilian casualties resulting from Taliban rule. Many Afghans who have fled their country to safer territories, including Pakistan, are now being forced to return to a homeland that presents much bleaker prospects, especially for women and girls. (Pakistan ejected more than 375,000 Afghans in the final quarter of 2023 alone.)
Since 1998, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), among other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), has been providing economic assistance, shelter, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, safe learning spaces, employment services and development assistance to the Afghan people.
Burkina Faso
This West African country is listed as “one of the top 10 countries most likely to experience a worsening humanitarian crisis” by the IRC. Over 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the country’s political instability, growing violence and increasing food insecurity prevent its economy from flourishing. The IRC also considers Burkina Faso one of the most difficult countries in which to deliver humanitarian aid due to funding cuts.
The U.S. has provided aid to address food insecurity, education, communicable disease control and general health services, though counterterrorism military funding has been blamed for escalating violence in the country.
Central & South America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Ecuador)
The region between Mexico and South America is generally considered to comprise seven countries, with four of those routinely named among the most dangerous places on earth. To date, approximately 550,000 people have fled their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; over 315,000 have been internally displaced due to threats including gang violence, extortion, persecution and sexual violence. Much of the violence is related to firearms, many of which originate in the U.S. legal market; El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are all in the top ten countries with the highest gun death rates in the world. Recently, waves of criminal gang-related violence have crept south to Ecuador, as well, forcing the country’s president to declare a “state of war.”
COVID-19 has only exacerbated the current displacement crisis, resulting in a 31%–41% increase in poverty in El Salvador alone.
Along with other relief agencies, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has partnered with governments and other entities in the region to identify and implement long-term solutions for refugees. UNHCR assistance on the ground includes providing shelters and protection services, food, hygiene kits, psychological support, cash-based assistance and educational opportunities, especially for internally displaced women, children and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
In early 2023, 5.8 million people were recorded as internally displaced in the DRC due to violence by armed groups; more than 522,000 of those are refugees and asylum-seekers. Civilian casualties are common in the region due to internal conflicts over resources, land and ethnic identity.
The humanitarian crisis in the DRC has spanned decades but, according to Oxfam, the situation has rapidly deteriorated over the last several years amid increased conflict. Widespread malnutrition, food shortages, lack of access to clean water and chronic poverty plague the Congolese people. Organizations such as Oxfam and UNHCR currently provide or have provided humanitarian aid and development assistance by building schools and health centers, training teachers and healthcare workers, implementing sanitation infrastructure, supporting agriculture initiatives and more.
Gaza Strip*
In October 2023, following a surprise attack by the Hamas militant group, the Israeli government responded with a vicious airstrike campaign on the Gaza Strip that has so far seen over 39,000 civilian casualties, a number that is only expected to grow. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also ordered that all supply lines to Gaza be cut off, exacerbating the effects of the massive blow to infrastructure. Over 85% of the population (and counting) has been displaced from their homes, many of which have been destroyed.
The majority of the Palestinian territory is bordered by Israel, with the only chance to escape either across the near-impenetrable Egyptian border or into the Mediterranean Sea. Israeli forces expect fuel and other supplies to run out as the siege continues.
Oxfam International is among the organizations providing aid to those affected by the attack, supplying clean water, food and other essential items and repairing utility systems destroyed in the bombings. These efforts only build upon decades’ worth of foreign aid efforts from around the world.
*At the time of publication, the Gaza Strip remains at the center of the conflict between Hamas and the Israeli military. The situation continues to develop, with Gaza’s infrastructure in near-total collapse and hundreds of thousands of civilians on both sides killed or displaced.
Haiti
Throughout the 20th century and beyond, this Caribbean island nation has periodically endured substantial poverty, civil unrest, disease epidemics and the devastating aftermath of numerous natural disasters, including droughts, earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Most recently, the last vestiges of representative government have been swept away in surges of gang violence, and many Haitians, both within and outside of the country, have begun to call for external intervention and perhaps even a “reoccupation” (recalling the U.S. occupation of the country in 1915-1934).
As of early 2023, one in two children in Haiti need some form of humanitarian assistance to survive, with a total of 2.6 million projected to need lifesaving aid by the end of the year. Haiti is among the top ten countries on the IRC’s Emergency Watchlist for crises related to gang violence, political instability, food insecurity and disease outbreaks — currently, upwards of 600 cases of cholera were confirmed as of November 2022, with over 20,000 cases suspected by February 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For its part, the IRC works with a broad network of Haitian nonprofits, providing donations and direct aid to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, gender-based violence, disease and more.
Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, S. Sudan and Sudan)
Also known as the Somali Peninsula, this drought-stricken region is home to six countries currently experiencing a devastating hunger crisis. In addition to environmental stressors, food scarcity is partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has caused a global increase in food prices, leading to catastrophic shortages in economically vulnerable countries.
The effects of the drought are expected to last for years. Currently, more than 36.4 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are considered food insecure, enduring damaged crops, dying livestock and an increased risk of floods and disease following rare instances of rainfall.
Disappointingly, the crisis has not received the global humanitarian attention it warrants; while the EU collectively managed to allocate €331 million to humanitarian efforts in the region, the UN recently came in far under its target goal of $7 billion in aid funds. Despite this, NGOs including Concern Worldwide are on the ground providing nutrition interventions, mobile medical services, clean water and cash assistance for families.
Iraq
Due to lingering effects of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, followed by the 2014 hostile takeover by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), 1.2 million Iraqis remain internally displaced by conflict, with 4.1 million in need of humanitarian aid.
The refugee crisis has only worsened due to COVID-19, which disproportionately affected the most vulnerable Iraqi citizens, leading to reduced incomes, disrupted education and increased gender-based violence. What few humanitarian resources exist have been further strained by the influx of Syrian refugees fleeing conflict in their own country. The Iraqi people are also experiencing perpetual water insecurity (for both drinking and irrigation) due to Turkey-led dam projects on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Immediate needs include emergency food, shelter, access to clean water, sanitation and essentials; longer-term needs include psychological support, improving healthcare infrastructure and helping returning refugees reassimilate into their communities. UNHCR and World Vision are two relief organizations currently on the ground in Iraq, providing trauma and mental health counseling, distributing shelter and home essentials such as tents, mattresses and kitchen sets, and delivering PPE to healthcare facilities.
Sahel Region
The Sahel region spans a large portion of the African continent to the south of the Sahara Desert, encompassing parts of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, The Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. Frequent droughts and high birth rates regularly strain resources, but escalating violence by Jihadist insurgent groups have resulted in over 34 million people needing emergency humanitarian aid, a 25% increase since 2018. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Sahel crisis is one of the fastest-growing humanitarian emergencies in the world.
Acute malnutrition, unsafe shelters and sexual violence are among the most pressing threats endured by the people of the Sahel, though a number of relief organizations are working to provide healthcare, education, nutritional services and psychosocial support (having to do with the intersection and interaction of social, cultural and environmental influences on the mind and behavior). Recently, democratic backsliding has plagued the region, with coups threatening or toppling elected governments.
South Sudan
As part of the Horn of Africa, large swaths of South Sudan’s population are enduring “famine-like conditions,” with approximately 1.4 million children undernourished. Climate change, disease epidemics and political unrest are among the contributing factors to the ongoing humanitarian crisis; the world’s newest nation state is still wracked with lingering violence sparked by its secession from Sudan in 2011. As a result of these many factors, an estimated 9.4 million people likely needed life-saving aid by the end of 2023.
Since 2014, the EU has allocated more than €876 million to support education initiatives, combat food insecurity and provide life-saving vaccinations to those most acutely affected by poverty and conflict in South Sudan. International organizations like the IRC deliver 80% of the country’s healthcare, a sign of how dire the situation has become.
Sudan
Sudan has one of the highest rates of childhood malnutrition in the world, with over 3 million children under five affected. Of those, 610,000 are considered acutely malnourished, with limited access to food, insufficient protein and micronutrients, poor feeding practices and unsafe water and sanitation. According to ACAPS (The Assessment Capacities Project), an estimated 15.8 million people across the country needed humanitarian assistance in 2023. Political violence also regularly threatens public health and safety as the country roils with escalating civil unrest.
The ongoing crises in Sudan have been the focus of many relief organizations over the past decade and beyond, including CARE International, which runs therapeutic feeding programs for children, provides essential care for pregnant and lactating mothers and assists Sudanese women with self-sustaining agricultural projects.
Syria
Following ten years of ongoing conflict, 15.3 million people (70% of the population) are in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria. The country is the source of the largest refugee crisis in the world, with 6.8 million internally displaced persons alone, the most of any country globally. Since 2011, a total of over 14 million Syrians have fled their homes due to civil war and natural disasters (such as the 2023 earthquake on the Turkey-Syria border, which killed over 8,000 Syrians). According to UNHCR, 90% of the population lives below the poverty line.
Agencies including UNHCR, Concern Worldwide and IRC have been working in Syria for the past decade, helping to improve infrastructure, healthcare services, job training and protections for women and children. Focusing specifically on children, UNICEF is currently working to provide nutrition assistance and trauma support to children and caregivers, deliver life saving vaccines and improve access to safe drinking water.
Ukraine
In 2014, Russia forcibly annexed the Crimean peninsula from the rest of Ukraine; conflict between Russia and Ukraine has wracked the region ever since. The most recent Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, and has continued unabated despite global economic sanctions against Russia. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated that 17.6 million people in Ukraine required humanitarian assistance in 2023. Currently, approximately 40% of Ukraine’s population needs assistance with food, shelter, healthcare, cash and other basic necessities.
Civilian infrastructure continues to be a deliberate target of Russian missile strikes, resulting in widespread death, displacement, and destruction of homes, livelihoods and essential services. According to the IRC, Russia’s violent efforts to bring Ukraine under its control has caused “the largest and fastest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II.” Over 8 million Ukrainians have fled the country, but many more are trapped by violence, destroyed infrastructure and a lack of humanitarian resources or safety information.
Many organizations across the world have banded together to aid the Ukrainian people, both in-country and in refugee communities in neighboring countries. Essential relief services include cash support, hygiene kits, psychosocial support, legal assistance and mobile health teams.
Venezuela
As of early 2023, over 7 million Venezuelans had fled their country escaping violence, inflation, gang warfare, crime rates and shortages of food, medicine and essential services. It’s estimated that 2,000 people leave the country each day, seeking asylum in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Escaped refugees continue to face challenges in their host countries, including xenophobia, barriers to employment, gender-based violence and family separation.
To date, the United States is the largest donor to humanitarian aid in Venezuela, allocating $2.8 billion since 2017 to support food assistance programs, emergency shelter, access to mental and physical healthcare, clean water, sanitation, hygiene, employment programs and protection for vulnerable groups including women, children, LGBTQIA+ individuals and indigenous people.
Despite U.S. aid efforts, the staggering homicide rates across Latin American cities (including in Venezuela) can be directly linked to their proximity to America’s firearms market. However, rates of violence have been falling over the last two years.
Yemen
After eight years of conflict, Yemen remains on the IRC’s Emergency Watchlist, having fallen from the number one spot only because of worsening crises in other countries. According to the United Nations Population Fund, 80% of the population is facing food shortages or lack of access to other basic needs; 21.6 million people require humanitarian assistance.
The blight and violence caused or compounded by disease outbreaks, economic collapse, COVID-19 and natural disasters disproportionately affect Yemeni women and girls, whose access to sexual and reproductive health services is nonexistent or severely limited. A woman dies in childbirth every two hours from entirely preventable causes, and 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from acute malnutrition. Children are regularly recruited to fight in armed conflict, conscripted into labor and subject to abuse and exploitation.
UNICEF is working directly with the most vulnerable populations of Yemen, providing trauma counseling to children and their families, treating and preventing acute malnutrition, providing medical supplies, and rehabilitating and establishing safe learning environments.
Humanitarian Crises to Watch
Climate change, internal and international conflict, resource shortages and other aggravating factors currently pose threats to human life and wellbeing in almost every part of the globe. As we move further into 2024, developing circumstances in the following countries call for increased vigilance.
China and Taiwan
As China threatens to forcefully reunify itself with the island of Taiwan, the two sides’ severely mismatched resources could lead to devastating consequences for both Taiwanese and Chinese civilians. Despite this, the majority of Taiwanese civilians are unconvinced they will enter conflict with China.
Myanmar
Since the military overthrew Myanmar’s government in February 2021, increasing numbers of civilians have endured displacement, violence and dangerous ethnically- and religiously-motivated persecution.
North Korea
Cloistered and militaristic North Korea poses a perpetual threat to global safety, especially considering its volatile leader, advanced long-range missile technology and vast reserves of nuclear weapons. North Korea maintains the worst human rights record in the world; its people are currently enduring a critical food shortage, while having never fully recovered from the national famine of the mid-1990s.
Sri Lanka
According to Human Rights Watch, Sri Lanka is on the verge of a hunger crisis, exacerbated by inflation, fuel shortages and a dearth of foreign currency that has severely limited imports. Economic turmoil has fueled ongoing protests and police violence, which only deteriorate the humanitarian situation further.
List of News Resources
The following are some of the most reliable web sources for up-to-the-minute and historic information about critical events unfolding around the world.
- BBC News Country Profiles
- CIA World Factbook
- Economist Intelligence Unit
- International Disaster Database
- The New Humanitarian
- Thomson Reuters
- ReliefWeb
- ReliefWeb Response
- UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal
- International Crisis Group
- MapAction
- Fragile States Index
Global Humanitarian Trends
While each humanitarian crisis is incredibly complex and unique to its own region, there are a handful of trends that emerge as precipitating or exacerbating factors, regardless of geography.
Climate change
More and more communities around the globe are experiencing devastation due to soaring temperatures, increasingly frequent natural disasters and disrupted ecosystems. Even a several-degree increase in seasonal temperatures tends to have a massive ripple effect on agriculture, livelihoods, transport of goods and public health, often with catastrophic consequences. For current examples of the deadly effects of climate change, look to the drought in the Horn of Africa, deadly flooding in the Sahel and escalating hurricane threats in the Caribbean.
Use and destruction of environmental controls
Destroying environmental control systems is an age-old method for weakening an opponent in conflict — take the recent bombings of Gaza’s water and sewage treatment facilities by the Israeli army, or the Russian military’s (disputed) destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine to cause widespread flooding.
Conflicts between global powers
Political leaders’ failure to collaborate at the highest levels of global government has a disproportionate effect on the most vulnerable populations. Conflicts between major global powers — such as the political animosity between Russia and the U.S./Europe — exacerbate existing humanitarian crises and impact millions of lives across regions involved in the conflict. As an example, the Russian war on Ukraine has caused opposing global powers to cease trade with Russia; since Ukraine has relied heavily on trade deals with Russia, Ukrainian civilians have experienced widespread job loss, shortages of goods and inflationary pressures that have increased the cost of living beyond feasibility.
Technological developments
Facial recognition and AI software make it easier than ever for totalitarian governments to track citizens and asylum seekers alike (as China does along the N. Korean border). However, many governments and aid organizations are leveraging AI for good. More and more organizations are applying AI and other technologies to predictive analytics, which enable them to transition from emphasizing “disaster preparedness” to “anticipatory action.” Developments of note include:
- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is leading the Early Warnings for All initiative (along with ITU and UNEP) to ensure every person in the world is protected by early warning systems within the next five years. AI is being used to improve the accuracy and timeliness of early warnings, an initiative supported by Big Tech companies.
- The Environmental Emergencies Centre (a UNEP/UNHCR initiative) oversees the IKI Project, an AI-driven project in Burundi, Chad and Sudan to investigate past environmental change around displacement hotspots and deliver future projections to inform adaptation measures and anticipatory action for integration in humanitarian programming.
- The MyAnga app helps Kenyan pastoralists brace for drought and has gotten some press, though it doesn’t (currently) use AI. Instead, it visualizes data from global meteorological stations and satellites, allowing herders to plan ahead, manage their livestock better and save time scouting for green pastures.
- In June 2023, project management platform monday.com partnered with Google to use the Flood Hub forecasts to develop an extensive AI-powered early flood warning system for the Red Cross Assam, India. Using the app, thousands of Red Cross volunteers are able to translate flood forecasts into actionable tasks to help them alert and prepare affected communities.
In other technological trends, the increasing reliance on smartphones to manage immigration and asylum seekers has both positive and negative consequences. Smartphones have the ability to greatly improve efficiency when it comes to the immigration process; however, the lack of technological equity among immigrants and asylum seekers means that those in need may not be able to access safety. For example, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection requires asylum seekers to download an app to apply; if seekers don’t have a smartphone, they are potentially barred from entering the country.
Disinformation
Disinformation campaigns continue to be one of the most insidious, population-wide destabilization tactics, especially in countries that strictly limit civilian internet access. However, anyone can fall victim to disinformation in desperate circumstances; take the purposeful manipulation of wartime refugees by human traffickers.
To combat widespread disinformation among displaced populations in Latin America, the IRC has launched InfoPalante, a digital platform that enables users to access crucial information regarding civil and legal rights, jobs and access to healthcare in their asylum countries. On a global scale, the Disinformation Index aims to provide neutral and transparent data on political and social developments around the world, acting as an impartial resource for journalists, policymakers and business leaders.
Drones for good
While military drones have inspired terror in vulnerable populations the world over, the technology is increasingly leveraged for good. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or drones, are currently used to quantify refugee flows for needs assessments, capture footage of conflict aftermath, search for survivors of natural disasters and deliver aid to hard-to-reach places.
Inflation
Global supply chain shortages, increased consumer demand and sky-high interest rates have strained resources around the world, with everyday civilians absorbing the biggest blow. Intended as an antidote to the economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, hyperinflation has increased food prices beyond many peoples’ means, leading to food shortages, malnutrition, starvation and death. Humanitarian organizations allocate their funding strategically to deliver the most benefit to the greatest number of people, a mission that is becoming more difficult as the price of everyday items like food rises to unprecedented extremes.
Rise of authoritarian nationalism
As billions of displaced civilians seek refuge outside their home countries, increasingly stringent nationalist responses pose an equal or greater threat. Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Central America and Ukraine — to name only a few current examples — continue to endure xenophobic attacks and persecution in their host countries, including being barred from accessing employment or educational opportunities.
Attacks against aid workers
As with wartime media correspondents, humanitarian aid workers are generally considered nonpartisan, neutral and off-limits targets in conflict zones. However, increasing attacks against aid workers indicate that neutrality is wavering as attitudes toward foreign aid become increasingly politicized.
Taken as a whole, any of the humanitarian crises covered in this article can feel insurmountable. However, the more motivated and compassionate individuals dedicate their energies to mitigating the short- and long-term effects of hunger, conflict, natural disasters, sanitation and poverty, the greater the positive impact.
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