A humanitarian catastrophe is a humanitarian crisis (or emergency) where widespread loss of life, threat to life, and human suffering on an immense scale occur - often over a short period of time. Such events result typically from violence involving armed actors (like states and non-state armed groups), leading to hunger, displacement, disease, and lack of access to essential resources like safe water and shelter. Natural disasters can also cause humanitarian catastrophes such as famine.
Key characteristics of humanitarian catastrophes include:
- Massive Displacement: Large numbers of people are forced to flee their homes, leading to refugee and internal displacement crises.
- Severe Resource Shortages: Access to essential needs for survival like food, save water, shelter, and healthcare are significantly disrupted or unavailable.
- High Mortality and Morbidity: There is an increase in deaths and illnesses due to violence, inadequate living conditions, and lack of health care.
- Denial of humanitarian aid or blocking of humanitarian access: Warring parties or other actors block humanitarian agencies from reaching those in need.
- These situations are most often marked by serious human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanity, or even genocide.
Humanitarian catastrophes require urgent international attention and resources to address the immediate needs of affected populations and their protection.
Recent examples of humanitarian catastrophes include:
- Gaza (2023-present): Ongoing armed conflict has caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths, widespread destruction of infrastructure, displacement of nearly the entire population of the territory, and severe shortages of essential supplies. Humanitarian organizations have described the situation as catastrophic, with people dying from widespread attacks, starvation, dehydration, disease and hypothermia.
- Sudan (2023-present): Conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 13 million people, creating the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Humanitarian organizations have described the situation as catastrophic, with large numbers of people starving to death and millions cut off from humanitarian aid.
While catastrophic conditions are present in many humanitarian crises around the world, the term "humanitarian catastrophe" specifically refers to situations where these conditions are widespread and affect large parts of a country, territory, region, or population.