Why these 10 humanitarian crises demand your attention now

Beyond Gaza and Ukraine, emergency aid needs are going unmet in these neglected hotspots around the globe.

We’re in a new era of conflict and crisis. Can humanitarian aid keep up?

“Utter neglect of displaced people has become the new normal.” In the past couple of years, a sharp uptick in conflicts and crises around the world has forced an unprecedented number of people to flee their homes, straining an already underfunded global aid system. War has ravaged countries from Sudan to Ukraine. Climate change and extreme weather have forced millions to flee for protection. Gang violence has soared in Honduras and Haiti. Radical Islamic insurgencies and clashes between communities proliferated in Burkina Faso and the Sahel.

As Humanitarian Crises Escalate, So Do Demands to End Them

David Miliband, head of the International Rescue Committee, says the global refugee crisis “is manageable, not insoluble.”

How the world should respond to humanitarian crises

We live in a world in which warring parties kill civilians without consequences, and in which the human and economic costs of disasters is growing. Unless we act soon, serious natural hazards will become more frequent. Millions more people will be pushed further into a life of poverty and suffering – and international aid efforts will struggle to cope. There is an urgent need for profound and tangible changes in the way the international community responds to violations of international law and human rights, and prevents and reduces the impact of conflicts and disasters on vulnerable people.

Humanitarian crises and disasters: the world has become a riskier place over the past decade

Conflict, political instability and violence have contributed to increased risk. Research shows that, without mitigation and adaptation measures, the future impact of global warming will exacerbate the risk for humanitarian crises worldwide.

Humanitarian Emergencies Around the World

Emergencies and crises are happening across the globe.

The global humanitarian crisis is worse than ever. This is what the international community must do to improve it

Yet at the very moment when humanitarian aid is needed most, the global response is nowhere near enough. Today, the gap between humanitarian needs and available funding is wider than it has ever been, with calls for support continuing to rely heavily on a disturbingly narrow international donor base.

A bleak outlook for global humanitarian funding in 2024

The humanitarian sector is facing a funding crisis, even as needs around the world continue to grow. We talk with experts and to NGOs about the impacts.

A grave humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia. ‘I never saw hell before, but now I have.’

Millions have been displaced, thousands killed, and reports of human rights violations are rampant as a civil war escalates in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

As Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis deepens, its young people step up

Afghans are giving food to the hungry, clothes to the needy, and medical care to the sick: ‘I just wish I could work at night, too.'

Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

In recent decades, humanitarian emergencies have become more complicated and long-lasting. An emergency always poses challenges, but they become complex when layered with crisis, climate change and conflict.

Horrifying Stories of Rohingya Refugees Fleeing Death in Myanmar

"We saw them slit throats and bellies, shoot our men, and rape our women. They killed the older men, and then the men my age. They killed our doctors."

Nine Million People Have Fled. Up to 150,000 Are Dead. No One Is Talking About It.

The threat of famine is grave. People inside and outside Sudan are trying to get anyone to notice.

The U.N. Uses Satellites to Track Humanitarian Crises Around the World

They beam phone and TV signals around the globe. They peer into enemy territory. And since 1972, with the launch of the United States’ Landsat 1, satellites have kept watch over the planet’s natural resources, tracking deforestation and urban sprawl. But they’ve increasingly taken on an urgent new role as human rights watchdogs.U.N. satellite whisperers watch the migrations of people displaced by war in Syria and Somalia to target aid to the right places at the right times.

The World Has Left Yemen to Die

Exclusive photos give a rare look inside the country, where civil war has trapped civilians in a life of violence and disease.

Three humanitarian crises you should know about in 2024

Sudan, Haiti, and Congo need our attention. These three crises increased in severity over the past year, and merit a robust response from the world’s humanitarians.

What is a humanitarian crisis?

Generally, a humanitarian crisis is defined as 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. There is no universal definition of a humanitarian crisis, and the terms ‘humanitarian crises’ and ‘humanitarian emergency’ are often used interchangeably.

What is humanitarian aid? Peanut butter, WiFi, and other life-saving supplies.

The exact kind of aid depends on the crisis, but certain resources are always needed.

With Haiti in Chaos, a Humanitarian Crisis Is Rapidly Unfolding

As gangs have united in concerted attacks against the state, the prime minister is stranded in Puerto Rico, and food, water, fuel and medical care are in short supply.

World leaders neglected this crisis. Now genocide looms.

Already the world’s worst displacement crisis, new battlefronts in Sudan could unleash ethnic violence and genocide.