Global Humanitarian Overview 2025 [EN/AR/FR/ES]

Foreword by the Emergency Relief Coordinator
Tom Fletcher
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

I launch this Global Humanitarian Overview for 2025—my first as Emergency Relief Coordinator—with shame, dread and hope.

Shame, because behind every number in this report is a human being. This exercise is not about theory or trends: it is about lives. Lives shattered by conflict, the climate crisis and the disintegration of our systems for international solidarity.

The suffering behind the numbers is all the more unconscionable for being man-made. Wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine are marked by the ferocity and intensity of the killing, the complete disregard for international law, and the deliberate obstruction of our humanitarian movement’s effort to save lives. Displacement of people has again reached new highs. Again, the most vulnerable are the worst betrayed: around one in every five children in the world—approximately 400 million—are living in or fleeing from conflict zones. And women and girls are too often the worst hit, amid inadequate health care and an epidemic of gender-based violence.

These staggering numbers matter. They give our humanitarian movement the clearest assessment of the daunting scale of the challenge, and a road map for where we must focus our collective energy and commitment. The data underlines the tough choices we must make as we face an unprecedented level of suffering. This year is set to be the hottest year on record; already vulnerable communities are reaping the consequences, hit by hurricanes, flooding, drought and heatwaves. Crises are lasting longer—10 years on average. And the longer they last, the bleaker the prospects: life expectancy drops, vaccination rates plummet, education suffers, maternal mortality skyrockets, and the spectre of famine grows.

So, it has been a catastrophic year for the people we serve. It has also been a tough year for our humanitarians. We are under-funded, overstretched and under assault. Humanitarian workers, particularly local staff, have faced indiscriminate hostilities, deadly attacks, and incessant obstruction of their work. Despite rigorous efforts to define and prioritize assistance, underfunding has forced us to scale back operations, and make the toughest choices, with real human costs.

But—hence my dread—2025 is set to be no less challenging. The warning signs are all here, and we cannot look away.

So where is the hope? We must draw it from the courage and determination of those we serve and from the extraordinary work being carried out every day by humanitarians. In 2024, despite the challenges, we reached nearly 116 million people worldwide. We increased local leadership in delivery, strategy, and funding. And through the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund, we improved the efficiency and speed of responses. As a community we continued to innovate, including through expansion of the use of cash and vouchers in emergencies, increasing the autonomy and dignity of people caught in crises. Thank you to everyone in the global humanitarian movement, including our committed donors, all those on the frontlines of our efforts, and those who will join us in 2025.

This Global Humanitarian Overview for 2025 sets a clear path for building on this momentum in the coming year. It must jolt us into seeking a reset of the world’s relationship with those in direst need; to raise all the funds needed for our frontline appeals; to find new allies, partnerships, and ways of working; to surge work to put the voices and agency of those we serve at the heart of the effort; and to be ruthless in finding efficiency and innovation.

I know that the humanitarian movement will confront the challenges with energy and commitment. But these efforts must be joined by a renewed groundswell of robust and decisive political action from the international community, to stand unequivocally behind international law and our collective obligations to protect civilians and humanitarian assistance; to genuinely confront conflicts, the climate crisis and inequality; and to win afresh the argument for humanity.

- Tom Fletcher

Explore the report and interactive content through humanitarianaction.info.