Zimbabwe: Flash Appeal Response Monitoring (May 2024 - May 2025) (as of May 2025)

Situational Overview

In the first quarter of 2025, Zimbabwe continued to grapple with multiple humanitarian shocks, including disease outbreaks, heavy rains and floods, and an African armyworm infestation. These challenges came as the country reeled from the impact of a devastating drought, the worst in 40 years, that began in early December 2023, affecting crop production, limiting food availability, and leaving 7.6 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in 2024 due to El Niño.

The country also experienced the worst outbreak of African armyworm in two decades, which affected all the ten provinces and destroyed crops in mid-March 2025. Cholera has been confirmed in 19 districts across seven provinces. Health authorities cited inadequate access to clean water, poor sanitation and limited health infrastructure in high-density areas as key drivers of transmission. In addition, a resurgence of measles was reported nationwide, with cases in 9 of the 10 provinces.

Humanitarian partners continued to implement activities outlined in the Drought Flash Appeal, reaching an estimated 1.5 million people with a multisectoral response. The Flash Appeal complemented the Government’s Drought Response Plan. However, funding shortfalls hindered partners’ ability to scale up the response, with only 27 per cent of the required US$429 million received.