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.
The climate crisis - one of the greatest challenges of our time - is already having a devastating impact on people and ecosystems and fueling hunger and conflict in the world's worst crisis hotspots. The effects of climate change will intensify in the coming years, leading to a further increase in humanitarian emergencies.
Myanmar faces multiple, overlapping humanitarian needs caused by persecution, protracted armed conflict, intercommunal violence and natural disasters like earthquakes and cyclones. Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have continued to mount due to ongoing armed violence and political unrest since the military coup in February 2021. The humanitarian situation remains dire, with more than 38 percent of the country's 57 million people estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025. In March 2025, a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar - the largest to hit the country in over a century.
Within weeks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 created one of the largest humanitarian disasters globally. As of February 2025, more than 42,000 civilians were recorded killed or wounded as a result of the war. Violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law occurring in the course of the ongoing armed attack are widespread. Millions of civilians fear for their lives. People in Ukraine continue to be killed, wounded and deeply traumatized by the violence. Civilian infrastructure on which they depend continues to be destroyed or damaged.
The Syrian conflict has caused immense human suffering for people both inside and outside the country. Since 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and maimed, and millions have been forced to flee their homes. In December 2024, Syria experienced a dramatic turn of events when rebel forces took control of the capital, Damascus, and President Bashar al-Assad resigned and fled the country following a swift offensive across Syria. This raised hopes that the 14-year civil war was coming to an end. Although Syria entered a new era in 2025, the humanitarian crisis is far from over.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that without urgent funding, life-saving food aid in Africa's Sahel region will come to a halt in April 2025. The warning comes as the lean season, the period between harvests when hunger peaks, is expected to arrive earlier than usual across the region this year. Millions of children, women and men, including refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), continue to rely on WFP food assistance to survive.
The world is facing an existential threat - the climate crisis. The effects of climate change are already evident and have far-reaching consequences for our environment, ecosystems, societies, and people. But the climate crisis goes beyond mere environmental protection. It is closely linked to the increase and intensification of humanitarian crises affecting many millions of people worldwide and posing immense challenges to the world.
In September 2024, hostilities in Lebanon were massively escalated by Israel, with thousands of airstrikes carried out widely across Lebanese territory. On November 27, a fragile ceasefire agreement came into effect. The escalation of the war caused significant civilian casualties and injuries, and triggered mass displacement, with more than 1.7 million people forced to flee. Before the recent deterioration of the situation throughout Lebanon, the country was already in the grip of a protracted humanitarian crisis.
In Haiti, millions of people are in need of humanitarian assistance to fight hunger amid a deteriorating security situation where armed gangs control or influence up to 90 percent of the capital. The country has a long history of natural disasters and remains highly vulnerable to hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. In 2025, half of Haiti's population, some 6 million people, are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 3.3 million children.
A top United Nations official has expressed grave concern over the rapid expansion of the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo), particularly in North Kivu province and its spillover into neighboring South Kivu province. Briefing the UN Security Council on Monday, Bintou Keita, the UN special envoy to the DRC, described the situation as "one of the most serious, complex and neglected humanitarian crises of our times."
Somalis are facing one of the world's most complex humanitarian crises. This crisis is fueled by conflict, displacement, food insecurity, political instability, climate shocks, poverty, and economic decline. Although Somalia's humanitarian needs remain high, reduced donor funding in 2025 forced humanitarian agencies to scale back or shut down critical programs, drastically reducing life-saving operations. Severe drought conditions in Somalia are endangering millions of lives amid dwindling funds.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is urgently calling for $629.7 million to sustain and scale up life-saving assistance in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). The UN agency reported Tuesday that conditions for those housed in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled conflict in the provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu have become dire with the advent of the rainy season.
Nearly ten years of armed conflict in Yemen have caused tens of thousands of civilian casualties and forced millions to flee their homes, making Yemen one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. More than half of the country's population - 19.5 million people - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection in 2025, with Yemen's most vulnerable and marginalized groups, including women and girls, at greatest risk. More than 11,500 children have been killed or maimed since the beginning of the conflict, and thousands more have been recruited as child soldiers.
According to new data published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 1.3 million people are now internally displaced in Haiti, which is a 24 percent increase since December 2024. With this surge, Haiti has the highest number of people ever displaced by violence, and internally displaced people (IDPs) now represent 11 percent of the country's population of 11.9 million.
Political turmoil and socioeconomic decline in Venezuela have led to the worst humanitarian crisis in South America and one of the largest migration crises in the world. Venezuela is experiencing a political and economic crisis marked by hyperinflation, limited food availability, medicine shortages, violent crime, and human right violations. Since 2014, more than 6.7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have left their country. In 2025, at least 7.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in the South American country.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the massive displacement of civilians continues in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo) following recent clashes between armed groups. Since October 1, more than 145,000 people have fled the violence in Masisi and Rutshuru territories in North Kivu province, amid reports of pervasive human rights abuses.
The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. On April 15, 2023, conflict broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, causing widespread displacement, hunger, and the world's largest humanitarian crisis. After 27 months of conflict, more than 12 million people are displaced as a result of the ongoing war. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance stands at 30.4 million people - two-thirds of Sudan's population.
South Sudan is in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis driven by years of brutal civil war. Nearly 400,000 South Sudanese died as a result of the conflict that began in December 2013. Atrocities and attacks on civilians, including widespread sexual violence, defined the civil war. In 2025, the world’s youngest nation is on the verge of plunging back into civil war due to prevailing political tensions and a worsening security climate.
The world is plagued by further humanitarian crises that should neither be forgotten nor neglected. Though DONARE presently does not compile a complete crisis profile, here are snapshots of some of these humanitarian situations. The emergency situations include: the crisis in Madagascar due to ongoing food insecurity and vulnerability to climate-related disasters; the crisis in Malawi due to drought and flooding; and the ongoing crisis in the Western Sahara.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the sudden escalation of hostilities in Alamata town and surrounding rural towns in northern Ethiopia since mid-April has displaced about 50,000 civilians - the majority of whom are women, children and the elderly - to neighboring Kobo district in North Wello zone and Sekota town in Wag Hamra zone. An undetermined number of casualties were reported in the fighting.
