A man seated on a bed holds a baby seated in front of him on a table. A young girl stands next to him. People seated with bags and a clothesline can be seen in the background
More than 1,100 people have been killed or injured in Haiti since January 2024, the deadliest month in the last two years. The photo shows displaced women and children, who have sought refuge in a school in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti after fleeing their homes during gang attacks in 2023. OCHA/Giles Clarke

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Nearly 300 million people globally need humanitarian assistance and protection

At the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), we bring the world together to tackle humanitarian emergencies and save the lives of people caught in crises.

What we do

We mobilize aid, share information, support humanitarian efforts, and advocate for crisis-affected communities.

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Where we work

Our presence in crisis-affected regions, combined with our expert team, allows us to rapidly respond and provide support to those in need.

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How you can help

Nearly every humanitarian response is critically underfunded. Every cent counts, and saves lives. Contribute today!

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Current responses

A man wearing an OCHA vest and helmet is helping upload an ambulance stretcher with a person lying on it into an ambulance, which has its back doors open. Another ambulance can be seen parked alongside it.

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) faces a protracted political crisis characterized by more than 55 years of Israeli military occupation, internal Palestinian divisions, and recurrent escalations of hostilities.

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Displaced girl in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with a serious risk of systemic collapse and human catastrophe.

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Inside a classroom, a boy standing behind a desk speaks into a microphone, which held by a woman, who is standing in front of him. Other children can be seen seated at their desks. Two blackboards are in view in the background.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso continues to face the worst humanitarian crisis in its history, with one in four Burkinabè now in need of humanitarian assistance.

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A woman looks into the camera

Burundi

The humanitarian situation in Burundi improved slightly last year, with a 21 per cent decrease in the number of people in need — from 2.3 million in 2021 to 1.8 million in 2022.

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A mother and her crying baby

Cameroon

Nine out of 10 regions in Cameroon are affected by three complex humanitarian crises: the Lake Chad basin conflict, the North-West and South-West crisis, and the Central African Republic (CAR) refugee crisis.

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Three recent returnees to Chad

Chad

The humanitarian crisis in Chad is becoming more entrenched due to growing food insecurity and malnutrition, forced displacement, the effects of climate change, and political, socioeconomic, health and sanitation challenges.

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ASG Mission Union Wounaan Field Visit

Colombia

Colombia has made progress in development and peacebuilding over the past decade, but internal armed conflict and violence, extreme weather-related events and COVID-19 have left 7.7 million people in need.

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Portrait of a family in El Salvador

El Salvador

El Salvador is still dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events of 2020. Combined with existing vulnerabilities, this left an estimated 1.7 million people in need of assistance.

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Children in a desert landscape

Eritrea

Following a border conflict with Ethiopia from 1998 to 2000, Eritrea experienced a prolonged "no-war, no-peace" situation and faced international sanctions for a decade.

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A woman, Esha Mohammed, walks along the dry landscape

Ethiopia

Ethiopia is facing multiple humanitarian emergencies due to climate change, conflict, disease outbreaks, poor macroeconomic conditions, and high commodity and food prices due to inflation.

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A woman holds a baby inside a room. Bags and other people can be seen in the room.

Haiti

Haiti is enduring a severe crisis with political, economic and humanitarian challenges. The President's assassination in July 2021 left the country without a leader, and the economy has suffered from four years of negative growth.

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A woman in an OCHA vest talks to a woman facing her. They are standing in a verandah of a house.

Honduras

Honduras faces growing vulnerabilities, including political and social conflicts, climate change, forced displacement and migration.

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Two women sat on the ground speaking with one another

Kenya

Kenya is facing an unprecedented drought. An estimated 4.4 million people face high levels of food insecurity, with over 4.1 million lacking access to enough water for daily needs.

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Painting of a refugee on a wall in Beirut

Lebanon

Lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic and financial crisis affecting all residents, including Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian refugees and migrants.

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Family in their garden outside their home in Madagascar

Madagascar

Madagascar's Grand Sud region has been affected by consecutive droughts. Despite a scale-up in humanitarian assistance, food insecurity and malnutrition improved in the Grand Sud, but the situation remains fragile.

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Men and women at a displacement site in TA Nkanda, Malawi

Malawi

The Tropical Cyclone Freddy weather system brought torrential rainfall to southern Malawi from 12 to 15 March 2023, causing devastating floods and mudslides and leaving a trail of destruction.

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Children working with chalk and slates in classroom

Mali

Mali is beset by insecurity, conflict, the impacts of climate change and limited access to basic social services, all of which are causing severe humanitarian need.

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A woman stands with a pointer and watches as a child writes on a blackboard placed against a wall. Children are seated on the floor in front of the board. Soe bags can be seen placed against a dilapidated wall.

Mozambique

An estimated 945,000 people have been internally displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado Province in northern Mozambique, which continues to increase humanitarian needs. 

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A woman with a young boy tied to her back walks on an unpaved narrow path. A young boy and a man carrying water and bags walk behind her.

Myanmar

Two years since the military takeover, the humanitarian outlook for Myanmar remains bleak. Conflict is raging, public services are in disarray and inflation is having a devastating effect on people’s financial situations.

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A family is sitting for a portrait

Niger

Niger continues to face an acute and complex humanitarian crisis marked by the impact of persistent insecurity, epidemics, food insecurity and floods.

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A woman and her child look into the camera

Nigeria

There has been no reprieve in the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria’s Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, where armed conflict is now in its thirteenth year.

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Woman wearing a headscarf and writing on a blackboard

Pakistan

Unrelenting monsoon rains across Pakistan — the worst in a decade — resulted in widespread flooding and landslides between June and August 2022.

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A woman with baby in her arms stands in front of an informal tent. Two men and a woman in blue vests and clothing face her.

Somalia

Somalia is facing a rapidly unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, driven by the longest and most severe drought in at least 40 years.

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Two women stand in a open space with their backs to the camera. They have an arm around each other's back.

South Sudan

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan is worsening, driven by the cumulative and compounding effects of years of conflict, subnational violence, food insecurity, the climate crisis and public health challenges.

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A woman stands with a little girl in her arms facing the camera with two young boys standing next to her

Sudan

Clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces erupted in Khartoum on 15 April 2023. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured due to the conflict.

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Syrian children smiling at the camera

Syrian Arab Republic

After 11 years of crisis, most Syrians continue to face a continued humanitarian decline. The country still has the world’s largest number of internally displaced people of 6.8 million people.

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Removing debris as part of the Early Recovery and Livelihoods cluster

Türkiye

OCHA Türkiye is one of the three OCHA hubs working together to implement the Syria Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) collectively in the spirit of the whole of Syria.

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a woman and two girls stand with backs to the camera on a paved path with some snow facing a damaged building.

Ukraine

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in February 2022, the lives of countless women, men and children have been torn apart. Millions were forced to leave Ukraine and become refugees.

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Venezuelan families on the move

Venezuela

In 2022, Venezuela showed signs of economic stabilization and growth. Despite this, people still face vast socioeconomic challenges.

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A man in a white jacket with a stethoscope sits behind a desk - a woman with a baby in her arms and a young boy standing next to her sits across the desk.

Yemen

Eight years into the conflict, the crisis in Yemen remains severe, with more than 21 million people — two thirds of the population — in need of humanitarian assistance.

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How we respond

Humanitarian coordinate ina tent in Turkiye

We coordinate

During an emergency, at the request of the affected country’s Government, we coordinate the flurry of response efforts to ensure they reach the people most in need.

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A gray-haired man sits behind a desk speaking into a microphone . People are seated behind him and next to him.

We advocate

Through our public and private advocacy, we raise awareness of humanitarian crises and the needs of affected people. We advocate for the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law.

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Meeting of dignitaries at the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment

We develop policy

We constantly update existing policies and develop new ones, as we strive to improve the way we deliver assistance to people in need.

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Children at a water pump in Kandahar, Afghanistan

We fund

We work with humanitarian partners around the world to identify the most critical humanitarian needs, plan responses and determine the budgets needed to address them.

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Information Management team at work

We inform

Accurate information and data are critical in informing a rapid, effective and principled humanitarian response. They are also vital for coordinating the response.

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