Humanitarian crises
- Page updated on18 de April de 2025
In humanitarian contexts, people face crises that threaten their lives and well-being. These crises can be of many different types, including natural disasters, humanitarian emergencies, complex humanitarian emergencies and protracted humanitarian crises, although there can often be a transition from one form to another, depending on their causes and evolution.
Knowing the realities of humanitarian crises such as Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan or Syria, their differences and similarities, their root causes and triggers, and the way they evolve is crucial. This knowledge allows us to understand the principles, objectives, strategies and actions with which the humanitarian organizations and their professionals, cooperating in coordination, can respond to crises, address the general and health needs of the affected population, and thus contribute to alleviating their suffering.
Table of contents:
Disasters: beyond a natural event
For a long time, a disaster was understood as a more or less unpredictable natural event (earthquakes, droughts or floods, for example) that resulted in the loss of human lives and the destruction of infrastructure and resources. However, it was later understood how these disasters impacted the population differently depending on the level of preparedness for cyclical or expected events, poverty and social protection, and even the political or environmental situation.
Today the term disaster is understood as a serious disruption of the functioning of a society due to hazardous phenomena that interact with the conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity, causing human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts.
Humanitarian crises and emergencies: the need for international aid
Just as a situation of poverty, inequity, vulnerability or structural weakness is not synonymous with a humanitarian emergency, a natural disaster does not necessarily trigger one either. Indeed, only do we speak of a humanitarian emergency or crisis when the scale of the disruption caused by a disaster exceeds local response capacity and international humanitarian assistance is required and, on many occasions, public health action.
Although the terms "humanitarian crisis" and "humanitarian emergency" are sometimes used interchangeably, the term emergency is usually reserved for the most acute and urgent phases of the crisis. The classic threshold for what does or does not constitute a humanitarian emergency was established in 1985 at a crude death rate in the general population of more than one death per 10,000 persons per day and more than 2 deaths in children under five years of age (or, if reached earlier, a doubling of the baseline reference value), thus indicating the need for the activation of a large-scale humanitarian response. Over time, this measurement system has lost some of its relevance, due to its high threshold and the difficulty of its use in populations that do not remain static in a geographical area or refugee camp, among other reasons.
Many emergencies, once their acute phase is over, continue for months and years as humanitarian crises in which, although there is less mortality, the population continues to depend on international humanitarian assistance for their protection and survival. Many of these crises even continue as protracted humanitarian crises for years and decades, with new phases of acute emergency triggered by the same or new causes, making a classification with strict terms difficult.
Complex humanitarian crises and emergencies: conflict and displacement
New conflict dynamics have changed the nature of humanitarian crises.
Throughout the second half of the 20th century (and especially since the end of the Cold War in 1991), important changes in conflict dynamics began to take place. With the new geopolitical changes, states collapsed and governmental institutions broke down in many countries, ethnic and resource struggles that had been contained for years were reactivated, the participation of parastatal actors (such as rebel and terrorist groups) increased, and civil wars and human rights violations multiplied.
The new conflicts lasted longer, were less respectful of international humanitarian law and were fought in the midst of civilian populations. This, together with the need to adapt humanitarian response to the new humanitarian contexts, led to the coining in 1994 of the term complex humanitarian emergency, whose currency over the next 30 years has only increased.
Unlike all other humanitarian emergencies (with which the need for an international humanitarian response is shared), in complex emergencies there is a conflict (internal or external) that generally results in the collapse of the authorities, considerable political instability, a massive forced displacement of people (within one's own country or seeking asylum and refuge in others), hunger and malnutrition, insecurity for the population and humanitarian actors trying to provide assistance, increased risk of epidemics, disease and death, and increased vulnerability to natural disasters. At times, many of these factors overlap with each other, or trigger each other, resulting in large numbers of casualties.
Examples of complex humanitarian emergencies: from Biafra to Yemen
Examples of complex humanitarian emergencies include:
- The civil war in Biafra, Nigeria, from 1967-70. Alongside a political crisis of state there was ethnic conflict, famine, mass displacement and struggles over natural resources.
- The humanitarian crisis of Cambodia, with a civil war (1970-75), a genocide (1975-79) and a subsequent guerrilla war (1979-1991). It resulted in famine and the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
- The civil war and genocide in Rwanda (1994), which ended with the forced displacement of 500,000 refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There they suffered a terrible outbreak of cholera and dysentery.
- The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan (since 2003), with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons and extremely high levels of food insecurity. It was the result of the confrontation between the government, rebel groups and militias.
- Haiti (since 2010), with an earthquake against a backdrop of poverty and political instability and a subsequent cholera outbreak.
- Syria (since 2011), with a protracted civil conflict and a huge regional and global refugee crisis.
- Yemen (since 2015), with armed conflict resulting in the collapse of basic and health services and severe food insecurity.
- And, unfortunately, many others.
Humanitarian crises in the world today
300 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, in 72 different countries
In May 2024, it was estimated that there were more than 300 million people in the world in need of humanitarian assistance, with an humanitarian system trying to respond to the needs of the 190 million most vulnerable people, in 72 different countries, with an insufficient amount of humanitarian funds falling short of the $49 billion demanded.
Alongside the major humanitarian crises in Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Yemen, Syria and Ukraine, all with between 15 and 25 million people - in each country - in need of humanitarian assistance, there are many more humanitarian crises, such as those in Palestine (where after decades of occupation, conflict, blockade and restrictions of movement, the Israeli military response has practically destroyed Gaza, home to 2 million people), Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Haiti, Honduras, Mali, Central African Republic, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mozambique, Nigeria, Niger, South Sudan, Venezuela, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, or Burundi, among others.
Violence, forced displacement, insecurity, epidemics, famine and natural disasters
In many of these humanitarian contexts, the familiar characteristics of complex humanitarian emergencies are observed, such as:
- Conflicts and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Palestine, the Sahel, Syria, Ukraine, South Sudan, Sudan and Ethiopia.
- The forced displacements from Sudan, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Chad or Central African Republic.
- The food insecurity of Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Burkina Faso, South Sudan and Honduras.
- The epidemics of infectious diseases in Chad, Niger, Burundi, Cameroon, Haiti, Pakistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Mozambique or Lebanon.
- The recessions in economic growth of Sudan, Niger, Colombia or Venezuela.
- The attacks against health and humanitarian personnel in Ukraine, Mali, Palestine, Myanmar, Haiti or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- And even natural disasters related to the climate, such as the droughts in the horn of Africa, the cyclones in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar, or the floods in Libya, Nigeria and Pakistan, among others.
Core concepts
External links
- OCHA, 2024. Global Humanitarian Overview 2024 Mid-year update.
- UNHCR, 2024. Mortality surveillance threshold.
- OCHA, 2023. Global Humanitarian Overview 2024.
- ALNAP, 2022. The State of the Humanitarian System.
- Anderson, 2018. Introduction to Humanitarian Emergencies.
- Sphere, 2018. The Sphere Handbook.
- Brennan, 2001. Complex humanitarian emergencies: A major global health change.
- Burkholder, 1995. Evolution of complex disasters.
- IASC, 1994. Definition of complex emergencies.
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