Attachments
Highlights
- Madagascar faced severe overlapping shocks in 2025 - including drought, floods and five cyclones - affecting over 200,000 people and displacing more than 46,000; this was compounded by socio-political unrest in Antananarivo (Sept-Nov), which increased uncertainty and disrupted services.
- 13 mobile clinics and 95 outreach sites were deployed for life-saving nutrition services, treating 68,494 children (36,988 girls and 31,506 boys) for severe acute malnutrition.
- 80,640 children, including 44,813 girls, and 7639 pregnant women in the most severely affected areas received essential health care.
- 94,806 children (including 48,546 girls) received learning materials, and 570 temporary classrooms were set up to restore education after flooding and school damage.
- 168,477 children, adolescents, and caregivers were provided community-based psychosocial support.
Situation in numbers
711,400 People affected.
46,000 Displaced people
582,200 children in need of humanitarian assistance
Funding Overview and Partnerships
The 2025 UNICEF Madagascar Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appealed for USD 41.37 million to respond with critical lifesaving and protection interventions to reach the most vulnerable children. Through the generous contributions of partners (US Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, EU DG-ECHO, Government of Japan, Government of Korea, MONACO), over USD four million was mobilized for 2025. Over 22,2 percent of these funds were provided by the Today and Tomorrow Initiative (TTI), which provides rapid financing for relief and recovery post-climate shocks. 1 UNICEF expresses its sincere gratitude to all public and private sector donors for the contributions received. Sustained donor commitments will be crucial to alleviating suffering and saving lives in the second half of 2025.
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs
The first half of 2025 was marked by overlapping shocks that sharply increased humanitarian needs and risks for children across Madagascar. Prolonged drought in the south—especially Androy and Anosy—severely constrained access to drinking water, which was often unsafe due to high salinity and became increasingly unaffordable as prices spiked, particularly in Androy. Combined with the lean season, this drove a rapid deterioration in food security and child nutrition.
Against this backdrop, the 2024–2025 cyclone season brought five tropical systems (Chido, Dikeledi, Elvis, Honde and Jude), with the most severe impacts in the southern regions of Atsimo Andrefana, Androy and Anosy—areas not directly hit by major cyclones in over a decade. From late December 2024 to March 2025, storms and floods affected over 200,000 people, including more than 46,000 displaced, damaging or destroying over 50,000 homes and wiping out more than 6,000 hectares of farmland. Cyclones Honde and Jude, just two weeks apart, were particularly destructive: Honde’s unusually wide system (around 480 km across) triggered extensive flooding, while Jude made landfall with winds up to 155 km/h and more than 200 mm of rain in 24 hours. Essential services were heavily disrupted, with over 1,085 schools damaged, leaving more than 224,000 children without learning access, and 35 basic health centres damaged and three destroyed. Humanitarian access was also constrained as roads and bridges failed and some airstrips were damaged, isolating communities for days or weeks and delaying life-saving assistance.
These shocks drove a sharp deterioration in child nutrition, with severe wasting up 87 per cent compared to last year and over 550,000 children acutely malnourished in southern Madagascar. A SMART survey (May 2025) confirmed the gravity of the situation: Tsihombe (Androy) recorded GAM 8.9% and SAM 2.2%, while Amboasary (Anosy) recorded GAM 11.6% and SAM 2.6%. At the same time, Ikongo district (Fitovinany) faced an exceptionally severe malaria outbreak—37 per cent of the population in Ambatofotsy reported fever, with 3,349 confirmed malaria infections and 32 deaths (CFR 1%)—further heightening risks to child survival.
In late September and October 2025, Madagascar experienced a period of significant social unrest, driven by youthled protests over deteriorating public services. The unrest created widespread uncertainty and, in some areas, disrupted the continuity of basic services and humanitarian operations. the military assumed control of key state institutions and announced the establishment of a transitional government, expected to remain in place for up to two years ahead of elections. In the weeks that followed, the situation shifted into a period of fragile stability; the events added further pressure on communities already affected by repeated climatic shocks, reinforcing protection risks and undermining household coping capacity—particularly for children.
Across 2025, the convergence of drought, successive cyclones and localized disease outbreaks severely eroded household coping capacity and disrupted essential services. Children have been disproportionately affected—through loss of safe water and adequate nutrition, disruption of schooling and health care, and heightened protection risks linked to displacement and instability. While some areas have begun to stabilize, recovery remains fragile and uneven, particularly in the south where infrastructure and livelihoods were heavily damaged. With continued climatic volatility and persistent vulnerabilities, humanitarian needs are expected to remain high into 2026.