OVERVIEW
In 2021, the Grand Sud of Madagascar endured the most acute drought seen by the region in at least 40 years, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis. Following back-to-back droughts during the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 rainy seasons, people were forced to resort to desperate survival measures, such as eating locusts, raw red cactus fruits or wild leaves, and child abuse and gender-based violence increased. At the peak of the crisis, nearly two in every five people in the Grand-Sud (1.13 million people) were severely food insecure and five districts—Amboasary Atsimo, Ambovombe Androy, Beloha, Tsihombe and Ampanihy Ouest—faced IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) from April to September 2021. About 14,000 people were estimated to be in IPC Phase 5 (Catastrophe), marking the first time that people in Madagascar were recorded in IPC Phase 5 since the IPC methodology was introduced in 2016. The number of children admitted for treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Grand Sud in the first quarter of 2021 was quadruple the five-year average, while an estimated 49,500 pregnant women were exposed to excess maternal morbidity and mortality due to lack of access to essential obstetric care.
In the face of rapidly rising needs, humanitarian partners mounted a large-scale response in the Grand Sud in 2021 and 2022, helping avert catastrophe. There was a 67 per cent increase in humanitarian workers in the region from January to September 2021, four agencies activated internal ‘Level 2’ procedures (WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO), and the four life-saving humanitarian clusters were activated (Food Security, Nutrition, WASH and Health) for the response. Under the Flash Appeal, humanitarians reached more than 1 million people in the Grand Sud with life-saving and life-sustaining assistance by December 2021, and 1.6 million people by the end of 2022, significantly contributing to a reduction in the most life-threatening needs in the Grand Sud.
However, just as the Grand Sud was beginning to emerge from drought, eight districts in the Grand Sud-Est of the country were severely affected by two successive cyclones—Batsirai and Emnati—in February 2022, causing widespread damage and destruction. The two cyclones affected 423,800 people, including 121 people killed by Batsirai and 15 by Emnati. Livelihoods in the region—which is ordinarily relatively food secure— were decimated. By the end of 2022, about 874,000 people in the Grand Sud-Est were acutely food insecure (IPC Phases 3+).
In response, humanitarian partners revised the Flash Appeal to include people affected by the cyclones, and rapidly ramped up their support, provided life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to almost 318,230 people in the Grand Sud-Est by the end of 2022.
With thanks to the generosity of donors, the Flash Appeal for the Grand Sud and Grand Sud-Est was around 80 per cent funded by the end of December 2022, with $309.6 million received out of the $385.4 million required. Two critical sectors—including Protection (100 per cent) and Nutrition (60 per cent funded)—were all well-funded, while Food Security (55 per cent) and WASH (46 per cent) received half of their requirements. Health (36 per cent), Education (24 per cent) and Emergency Shelter (23 per cent) lacked the funds required to respond at scale. Community Engagement did not receive any funds through the Flash Appeal but mobilized other emergency funds to support the interventions.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.