Attachments
HIGHLIGHTS
- Climate change-related disasters continue to increase in intensity and frequency throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, including children. In 2024, multiple emergencies related to droughts, wildfires and floods affected several countries and numerous communities throughout the Amazon region and the Caribbean; this included the earliest Category 4 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, which made landfall in July 2024.
- Despite the scale and frequency of these disasters, UNICEF will remain at the forefront of enhancing local and national emergency preparedness capacities throughout the region and will support the emergency response efforts of Governments and other partners. UNICEF provides technical expertise in child-centred humanitarian action, ensuring the rapid availability of technical, logistical and human resources to respond to sudden-onset emergencies.
- For 2025, UNICEF is appealing for $19 million1 to support emergency preparedness efforts throughout the region and rapid response to the humanitarian needs of children affected by new and protracted crises.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The humanitarian landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean is intricate, diverse and challenging, with varying crises across countries and subregions. While most nations within the region are classified as high- or middle-income, the region has among the highest wealth inequality in the world. 4 Despite its vast resources, 33 million people live in multidimensional poverty 5 in the region, with governments and partners often facing challenges to effectively addressing the specific humanitarian needs of children during emergencies due to fragile systems, political and socioeconomic instability 6 and limited humanitarian access.
Over the past two decades, more than 190 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been affected by emergencies. 8 Climate change-related events, which are increasing in both frequency and severity across the region, disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations. Indigenous populations, Afro-descendant communities and migrants face heightened risks as global warming and climate variability worsen, directly affecting normal climatic patterns. In 2024, the Caribbean’s hurricane season was forecast to increase by up to 60 per cent compared with the 30-year average, with similarly alarming projections for 2025.
Also in 2024, the El Niño weather phenomenon triggered emergencies including droughts, wildfires and floods, impacting hundreds of thousands of children in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. 9 The Amazon region is facing its worst drought in 45 years, 10 affecting millions in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. In Brazil, extreme drought 11 directly impacted 16 Indigenous groups in 42 Indigenous territories that make up 53 per cent of all Indigenous lands. Public health emergencies continue to pose significant challenges. In 2024, large outbreaks of dengue 12 and Oropouche fever spread across many countries in the region. 13 As climate change accelerates, such outbreaks are expected to increase. Furthermore, without sufficient vaccination coverage, the region risks an increase in outbreaks of such vaccine-preventable diseases as measles, diphtheria and polio.