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 2025, the region has an estimated population of some 52.7 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 are in need of humanitarian aid as the three countries continue 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 people. Heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides throughout northern Central America adversely affect millions of people. Central America's Dry Corridor, which includes parts of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, regularly experiences extreme weather events that affect agricultural production, food supplies, and people's livelihoods. Some 5.73 million people in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are suffering from moderate to severe food insecurity.

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 in 2024, 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.

There are over 687,800 refugees and asylum-seekers from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala worldwide, while some 350,000 Nicaraguans have sought international protection globallay. Since April 2018, political turmoil in Nicaragua continues to drive large-scale displacement. Meanwhile at least 318,000 people are internally displaced within Honduras and El Salvador. 

Host communities for refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) are primarily situated in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama. The number of refugees and migrants travelling north by land through Central America has increased massively since the beginning of 2022, and further increased during 2023.

In 2023, at least 530,000 people - more than double the number in 2022 - crossed the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia to continue their journey through Central America. The Darién Gap is a geographical area of rainforest that connects Central America to South America. Despite its dangers, the land bridge has become an important corridor for migrants and refugees attempting to cross from South America through Central America to Mexico and the United States.

El Salvador

El Salvador is facing a humanitarian crisis characterized by the combined threats of extreme weather, violence, mixed migration and displacement, as well as persistent food insecurity, exacerbated by global economic pressures and rising inflation. The country's vulnerability to climate-related disruptions remains high.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the transition from the El Niño to La Niña phenomenon has led to erratic climate patterns, with a severe drought in 2023 followed by intense rains in 2024, pushing up food insecurity rates. Mixed movements are another major driver of humanitarian needs in El Salvador.

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

Guatemala

In Guatemala, the humanitarian crisis is most severe in areas affected by climate shocks and mixed migration. According to OCHA, Guatemala is facing a multifaceted humanitarian crisis driven by systemic poverty, food insecurity, climate-related disruptions to agriculture, acute malnutrition, and increased movement of people. Between January and September 2024, 223,000 people entered Guatemala. Disruptions have affected 9.2 million people, leading to food shortages and price increases that exacerbate malnutrition.

Currently, 2.9 million people face crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse levels of food insecurity, with 386,000 in emergency levels (IPC Phase 4). Food insecurity and malnutrition reinforce a vicious cycle that heightens vulnerability to disease, reduces productivity, and deepens poverty. Acute and chronic malnutrition affect children at alarming rates. More than 25,000 cases of acute child malnutrition have been reported by government officials. According to official figures, chronic malnutrition affects nearly 50 percent of children under the age of five.

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 from 2023, the outlook for food insecurity remains dire due to climate-related events.

The 2024 hurricane season brought above-average rainfall that affected southern and western Honduras, particularly areas in the Dry Corridor that already suffer from drought and erratic rainfall patterns. Forecasts indicate that the food crisis will worsen, with an additional 474,000 people likely to fall into crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity.

More than 247,000 people have been internally displaced due to violence and poverty. As a transit country, Honduras has received nearly 360,00 refugees and migrants through its southeastern border between January and December 2024, including a large number of children. Approximately 45,000 Hondurans were deported to the country in 2024.

Humanitarian Appeals

In 2025, the United Nations estimates that 4.6 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in the Northern Triangle of Central America, including 0.8 million in El Salvador, 2.2 million in Guatemala, and 1.6 million in Honduras. This year's humanitarian response plans aim to assist 2.2 million people in need, seeking a total of US$306 million.

Humanitarian agencies are aiming to reach some 400,000 of the most vulnerable people in El Salvador. In Honduras, they will try to meet the needs of 0.8 million people. In Guatemala, they are targeting 1 million people. In total, about 48 percent of those in need will be targeted.

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 have a severe impact on the lives and rights of millions of people. Punitive and militarized responses have, in some cases, led to serious human rights violations and may further fuel violence. 

In 2023 and 2024, violent incidents in El Salvador have decreased, allowing greater access to communities previously controlled by gangs. According to the rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), the country'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, 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 remained in place in 2024.

Honduras has been one of the most violent countries in the world for years, with police reporting 3,035 murders in 2023, representing a homicide rate of 31 per 100,000 people. Between January and September 2024, preliminary data shows a 26 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023.

A state of emergency declared in December 2022 to combat extortion and related violent crimes has been extended more than a dozen times and is still in effect, suspending 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 slight decline in the national homicide rate, violence continues to create significant humanitarian needs in Honduras. In the first half of 2024, more than 200 cases of missing persons were recorded, with a record 30 disappearances reported in June alone. 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.

Authorities are accussed of widespread human rights violations, especially in El Salvador and Nicaragua. In March 2022, El Salvador's Legislative Assembly declared a state of emergency and suspended basic human rights in response to gang violence. In 2024, the state of emergency remains in effect.

Human rights groups say the Nicaraguan government of President Daniel Ortega intensified its systematic repression of critics, journalists, and human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024. The Nicaraguan government reportedly closed more than 3,390 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) between 2018 and 2023, and continues to do so.

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: 26/02/2025

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