Central America Crisis

Map of Central America
Map of Central America

The region

In a geographical sense, Central America refers to the land bridge in the middle of the American continent. Politically, Central America is the small region, situated between North America and South America, including the seven countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. The region borders Mexico to the north, Colombia to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua were the first of the seven Central American states to become independent in 1838, succeeded by El Salvador in 1841, Panama in 1903 and Belize in 1981. 

Due to cultural similarities, Central America is considered part of Latin America. While the humanitarian and sociopolitical situation in Belize, Costa Rica, and Panama is generally stable, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are plagued by violence, hunger, poverty and human rights violations.  Central America covers an area of around 522,000 square kilometers. As of 2026, the region has an estimated population of some 53.9 million people.

The humanitarian situation

The North of Central America (NCA) – also called the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) – is a sub-region comprising El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras and one of the most dangerous places on earth. Nicaragua is bordering the Northern Triangle. Gang violence, threats, extortion, persecution and sexual violence have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety. In 2025, more than 4.6 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were in need of humanitarian aid as the three countries continued to face violence, food insecurity, extreme weather events and mixed movements of refugees and migrants.

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua - some of the poorest countries in Latin America - are prone to a variety of natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, landslides, and hurricanes during the June–November Atlantic hurricane season. Furthermore, some of these countries are vulnerable to droughts and volcanic eruptions. In a world where climate change impacts are manifesting themselves with increasing intensity, countries such as those in northern Central America are facing serious challenges that can hinder their development and severely damage the livelihoods of their populations.

Recurring natural disasters exacerbate food insecurity and other humanitarian needs among vulnerable communities. Heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides in northern Central America have an adverse effect on millions of people. The Central American Dry Corridor, which covers parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, experiences frequent extreme weather events that impact agricultural production, food supplies and livelihoods.

In 2026, approximately 5 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are experiencing severe acute food insecurity (IPC3 or worse). The current El Niño phenomenon could push more families into vulnerability by triggering drought conditions in the Dry Corridor and disrupting rainfall and temperature patterns across Central America.

The North of Central America remains one of the most dangerous places in the world, despite reported declines in homicide rates in El Salvador and Honduras. Since 2015, gang violence, threats, extortion, persecution, and sexual violence have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety, either displacing them within their country or forcing them to seek refuge in other countries.

Although some improvements in security have been reported, widespread violence has created humanitarian and protection needs that are at times equivalent to war zones. Consequences include forced displacement, movement restrictions or confinement, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), forced recruitment, including of children, extortion, and barriers to accessing essential services and livelihoods.

Forced displacement in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras is being driven by a complex combination of factors, including gang-related violence (such as gender-based violence and forced recruitment), food insecurity, increasing poverty and climate change. There are currently over 687,800 Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan refugees and asylum seekers worldwide, while some 350,000 Nicaraguans have also sought international protection globally.

As of early 2026, approximately 320,000 individuals remain internally displaced across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. These countries also host around 104,000 refugees and individuals in refugee-like situations from the subregion, as well as approximately 90,000 asylum seekers originating from within the three countries.

Host communities for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) are primarily located in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama.

Since the beginning of 2022, the number of refugees and migrants travelling north by land through Central America had increased massively, and this trend continued in 2023.  In 2023, at least 530,000 people — more than double the number in 2022 — crossed the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia to continue their journey through Central America.

The Darién Gap is a rainforest area that connects Central America to South America. Despite its dangers, this land bridge had become an important route for migrants and refugees trying to travel from South America through Central America to Mexico and the United States.

However, since 2024, movements through the Darién Gap have sharply declined, from a record 520,000 crossings in 2023 to around 300,000 in 2024 and a few thousand in 2025. At the same time, returns to South American countries are rising, signalling a shift from the previous northbound trend. 

El Salvador

El Salvador is facing a humanitarian crisis marked by extreme weather, violence, mixed migration, displacement, and persistent food insecurity. These issues are exacerbated by global economic pressures and rising inflation. The country remains highly vulnerable to climate-related disruptions.

The transition from El Niño to La Niña led to erratic weather patterns, including a severe drought in 2023 followed by intense rainfall in 2024, which increased food insecurity rates. A strong El Niño weather pattern in 2026/2027 could again cause irregular climate patterns.

El Salvador is a country of origin and transit for migrants and refugees, and it has seen thousands of people leave in search of economic stability and better living conditions.

Guatemala

The humanitarian crisis in Guatemala is most severe in areas affected by climate shocks and mixed migration. The country is facing a multifaceted crisis driven by systemic poverty, food insecurity, climate-related agricultural disruptions, and acute malnutrition.

Currently, approximately 3 million people are experiencing crisis levels (IPC Phase 3) or higher of food insecurity, including 248,000 individuals facing emergency levels (IPC Phase 4). Food insecurity and malnutrition create a vicious cycle that heightens vulnerability to disease, reduces productivity, and exacerbates poverty. Acute and chronic malnutrition affect children at alarming rates.

Honduras

In Honduras, violence and climate-related risks persist amid high levels of poverty and inequality. The country is also grappling with a crisis of food insecurity that threatens people in the most vulnerable regions. Despite a slight improvement since 2023, the outlook for food insecurity remains dire due to climate-related events.

Between April to July 2026, around 1.8 million people are projected to face IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse), including approximately 95,000 people in IPC Phase 4. Food insecurity is primarily driven by high food prices, limited household food reserves, and irregular rainfall patterns. Between August and October 2026 conditions are lagerly expected to persist.

Humanitarian Appeals

In 2025, the United Nations estimated that 4.6 million people in the Northern Triangle of Central America would need humanitarian assistance and protection, including 0.8 million in El Salvador, 2.2 million in Guatemala, and 1.6 million in Honduras.

For 2026, no official figures are available because the UN has not prepared humanitarian response plans for El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras. This is largely due to a severe crisis in global humanitarian funding and strict prioritization of needs for life-saving humanitarian action.

Central America LocationThe security situation

Murder rates in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala are - or have been -among the highest in the world. Crime and extreme violence fueled by gangs and drug cartels, as well as weak institutions, are responsible for much of the displacement in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The situation is exacerbated by rising inequalities and the impact of climate-related disasters. In Nicaragua, political violence against opposition members is forcing people to flee. 

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras continue to be the most criminally violent countries in the world, with women, LGBTIQ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people), children, youth and people with disabilities suffering a disproportionate impact of the violence. Humanitarians on the ground have compared the high levels of violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to those in war zones.

Organized criminal groups, including local and transnational gangs as well as drug traffickers, are significant perpetrators of violent crimes. They commit killings, acts of homicide, extortion, torture, kidnapping, human trafficking, intimidation, and other threats and violence. Violence is directed against police, human rights defenders, judicial authorities, the business community, journalists, bloggers, women, and members of vulnerable populations.

Impunity remains widespread. Armed gangs operate with near impunity in certain parts of the Northern Triangle of Central America, often targeting children and adolescents who refuse to join their gangs or participate in criminal activities. Corruption, concerted efforts by organized criminal actors, and the undermining of anti-corruption institutions and the judiciary by corrupt political actors make it difficult to meaningfully investigate and prosecute crimes, including corruption, involving public officials.

The prevalence and violence of gangs and organized crime severely impact the lives and rights of millions of people. In some cases, punitive and militarized responses have led to serious human rights violations and may further fuel violence. Authorities, especially in El Salvador and Nicaragua, are accused of widespread human rights violations. 

From 2023 to 2024, violent incidents in El Salvador decreased, providing greater access to communities that were previously under the control of gangs. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), El Salvador's longstanding high homicide rate, which peaked at 105 per 100,000 people in 2015, has declined sharply since 2019, reaching a historic low in 2023.

For decades, gangs have exercised territorial control over areas throughout the country, committing murders, the forced recruitment of children, rape and sexual assault, kidnapping, extortion, and displacement. Meanwhile, authorities in El Salvador continue to commit widespread human rights violations. 

In March 2022, El Salvador's Legislative Assembly declared a state of emergency and suspended basic human rights in response to gang violence. The state of emergency remains in effect as of 2026. According to human rights groups, the government has committed widespread abuses, including mass arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees, as well as violations of due process.

The government has also intensified attacks against journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and union leaders. Under the state of emergency, police and soldiers have conducted hundreds of indiscriminate raids, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. They have arrested over 90,000 people, including more than 3,000 children. Most of those arrested remain incommunicado in pretrial detention. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned that the scale of mass arbitrary detentions, systemic torture, due process violations, and hundreds of deaths in state custody may amount to crimes against humanity.

Honduras has been one of the most violent countries in the world for years. In 2023, police reported 3,035 murders, representing a homicide rate of 31 per 100,000 people. However, due to aggressive anti-gang measures, the homicide rate dropped to 26 per 100,000 and then plummeted further to a multi-decade low of 15 per 100,000.

A partial state of emergency, which was first declared in December 2022 to combat extortion and related violent crimes, has been extended more than a dozen times and remains in effect as of 2026. This state of emergency suspends several human and civil rights, including the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

Honduras continues to face the effects of violence, forced displacement, gender-based violence (GBV), and high rates of inequality that disproportionately affect women, children, indigenous peoples, people of African descent, members of the LGBTIQ+ community, and people with disabilities. 

Despite a decline in the national homicide rate, violence continues to create significant humanitarian needs in Honduras. Gender-based violence is particularly prevalent and is a major driver of forced displacement. Reports indicate an average of two violent deaths of children every 24 hours, while cases of forced recruitment and exploitation of minors have risen.

According to human rights groups, the Nicaraguan government under President Daniel Ortega intensified its systematic repression of critics, journalists, and human rights defenders in 2025 and tightened its authoritarian grip on Nicaragua. Between 2018 and 2024, the Nicaraguan government reportedly closed more than 5,500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and continues to do so. Nicaraguan authorities continue to repress dissent systematically through arbitrary arrest and prosecution, enforced disappearance, forced exile, revocation of citizenship, and confiscation of assets. 

Donations

Your donation for the Central America emergency can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

Currently, there are only a few active appeals for the Central America crisis. You may also consider making a broader earmarked donation or an unearmarked donation for organizations active in the region.

To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.

Further Information

Last updated: 18/07/2026

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