Asia And The Pacific: Global Humanitarian Overview 2024
In 2024, humanitarian partners are appealing for US$46.4 billion to assist 180.5 million people facing life-threatening and urgent needs. The Global Humanitarian Overview 2024 is a comprehensive assessment of global humanitarian needs, and it provides a snapshot of current and future trends in humanitarian action for large-scale resource mobilization.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Asia and the Pacific is the most disaster-prone region in the world, highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. In 2022, over 140 disasters struck the Asia-Pacific region, affecting over 64 million people and leading to over 7,500 deaths. Nearly 80 per cent of the world’s climate-induced displacement happens in Asia and the Pacific, mostly triggered by climate-related and geological hazards such as monsoon rains, floods, tropical cyclones, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. As a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), disasters cause more damage in Asia-Pacific than in any other region, and the gap appears to be widening. Last year alone, disasters in the region caused economic damages estimated at US$57 billion.
Asia-Pacific is also home to several conflicts and protracted crises, with 7 million refugees and asylum seekers and some 5 million internally displaced people. The region hosts the world’s largest refugee settlement in the Cox’s Bazar District of Bangladesh where one million Rohingya refugees continue to rely entirely on humanitarian assistance for protection, food, water, shelter and health. The crises in both Afghanistan and Myanmar continue to deteriorate, with significant impacts on the humanitarian situation in both countries, and the potential for repercussions across the region as civilians continue to flee conflict and instability. Small-scale and localized conflicts also characterize some countries in the region, including the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, with significant humanitarian impacts. The drivers of humanitarian needs and vulnerabilities in Asia Pacific are increasingly multidimensional, with widespread economic downturns and cost-of-living increases compounding the effects of climate induced disasters, conflicts, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of 2022, some 69 million people in Asia-Pacific were acutely food insecure – 41.5 million people more compared to pre-pandemic levels. As of August 2023, over 28 million people in Asia and the Pacific were using coping strategies corresponding to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3 (Crisis) or above.
In 2023, requirements for the region’s eight response plans (HRP, RRP and HCRP) reached almost $6.43 billion to assist 45.3 million of 77.2 million people in need. With the increased frequency and severity of disasters in the region, the number of humanitarian priority countries in Asia Pacific has grown from seven countries in 2017 to 15 countries in 2023. This is based on a Regional Focus Model developed by the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) which identifies and analyzes where crises requiring international assistance is likely to occur.
Against this backdrop, as of mid-2023, effects attributable to a developing El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are starting to be seen, with potential for further extreme weather events across the region. Evidence indicates that El Niño may induce water stress, changes in ocean temperatures, increased risk of forest fires and higher incidences of disease. It is also a threat multiplier that will erode coping capacities and aggravate existing vulnerabilities, including food insecurity. In 2024, it is likely that several countries in the region will be faced with multiple, compound disasters, raising the possibility that additional people will require humanitarian assistance.
MYANMAR CRISIS OVERVIEW AND PROJECTIONS Myanmar remains a complex, protracted protection crisis. The people of Myanmar continue to face an unprecedented human rights, humanitarian and political emergency that is posing grave protection risks for civilians, limiting access to vital services including health and education, and driving deep food insecurity. Humanitarian needs have worsened across the country as conflict continues to rage, causing unprecedented levels of displacement, destruction of property and livelihoods, and mine and other explosive ordnance contamination, especially in the Northwest and Southeast. This has created dire protection threats and underscores the need for the centrality of protection to be implemented and funded across the response. The use of heavy weapons, including air strikes and artillery fire, continues to claim lives and pose risks to the safety and security of civilians, while raids, random searches and arrests are of deep concern. Forced recruitment – including of children – is being increasingly reported.
In 2024, 18.6 million people are in humanitarian need. This is almost 19 times the number prior to the military takeover and equivalent to a third of the population. This includes 6 million children, who are bearing the brunt of this crisis. The spread of conflict has driven unprecedented displacement, with the number of IDPs steeply increasing to 2 million as of 23 October 2023, which is nearly 600,000 more than at the same time last year. There are fears that this trend will continue into 2024. More than one million IDPs are being hosted in the hard-to-reach Northwest alone. IDPs are living in terrible conditions without proper shelter, often in informal sites in the jungle where they cannot easily access basic services, such as clean water. The monsoon in the second half of 2023 has been particularly miserable for people in these informal sites. Those on the move in unfamiliar locations are at escalating risk from explosive ordnance (landmines, explosive remnants of war and improvised explosive devices). People living in protracted displacement, from conflicts prior to the military takeover, are also facing desperate situations with pre-existing vulnerabilities further compounded by the current situation and Cyclone Mocha, particularly for stateless Rohingya people. Extremely severe Cyclone Mocha hit the Myanmar coast on 14 May 2023, bringing wind gusts of up to 305 km/h, storm surge and accompanying heavy rains, and impacting more than 3 million people in an area where needs were already high. Read more
AFGHANISTAN CRISIS OVERVIEW AND PROJECTIONS Afghanistan is experiencing the residual impact of decades of conflict, years of drought conditions, and chronic and continued poverty. The situation worsened after the severe economic decline experienced in the immediate aftermath of the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Despite the significant reduction in active military fighting, the crisis in Afghanistan remains first and foremost a protection crisis, aggravated by severe climate change impacts which have today created a water crisis – both urban and rural. Additionally, food security, health, nutrition, shelter, and education needs remain high. In 2024, an estimated 23.3 million people will require humanitarian assistance to survive.
The Afghan economy remains fragile, with most families struggling to maintain their livelihoods and relying heavily on international aid and remittances. Exclusion of women from economic participation hampers recovery efforts, while deflation and economic sensitivity to shocks persist.
Increasingly, restrictive policies inhibiting women's rights, movement and participation in humanitarian action negatively impact global engagement and donor contributions to life-saving initiatives. These restrictions on women's work and freedom continued to grow stronger during 2023, with implications for education, healthcare, and other sectors. Increasing bureaucratic hurdles, reduced localized negotiation opportunities, and efforts to exercise control over humanitarian activities create delays in project registration and implementation. Read more
REFUGEE RESPONSE PLAN
The Refugee Response Plan (RRP) for the Afghanistan Situation has evolved into a two-year plan for 2024-2025, with partners providing a budget for 2024 as well as an indicative budget for 2025, which will be reassessed at the end of 2024, based on the developing situation. As part of this transition, moving forward the RRP will focus just on the two major host countries for Afghan refugees – Iran and Pakistan. For 2024 and 2025, it is expected that Afghan populations, including new arrivals, will remain in need of support, exacerbated by the difficult economic situation in host countries. Host communities also need significant support, and investments in infrastructure require major attention since they continue to support large Afghan populations. Acknowledging the huge contribution of host countries, the RRP reaffirms the regional multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral approach which aims at strengthening the humanitarian and development response in support of host governments. As well as building community resilience, the RRP will deliver concrete actions, with a focus on community-based interventions incorporating an age, gender and diversity approach, cross-border collaboration, and durable solutions within the framework of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR). The 2024-2025 RRP, through four strategic objectives, will aim to:
Ensure coordinated efforts towards solutions in line with the objectives of the SSAR.
Reinforce a humanitarian-development nexus approach, to build resilient communities, strengthening local and national systems of host countries which have supported Afghans for decades, in the spirit of international responsibility- and burden-sharing and in line with the Global Compact on Refugees. Priorities include national education and healthcare infrastructure and supporting livelihoods for Afghans and host communities.
Support host governments to ensure access to territory and asylum, and protection in accordance with international standards, including respect for the principle of non-refoulement, admission, reception, registration, and documentation.
Respond to the basic needs of the most vulnerable, including via sustained support to government-led emergency preparedness efforts and multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral support to swiftly respond to those newly displaced by conflict, natural disasters, and other crises, as well as to existing populations who have seen their situation deteriorate due to the rising cost of living.
In line with the Global Compact on Refugees, partner organizations in Iran and Pakistan have developed a comprehensive response plan to address the needs of Afghans and their host communities via progressive policies that promote education, livelihoods, health and social inclusion. These will continue to be critical, as will addressing cross-sectoral priorities such as PSEA, AAP and climate action. In line with this approach, partners will continue to support host governments in maintaining and expanding their inclusive policies, which provide Afghan refugees with access to education and primary health services, while also advancing support of self-reliance and durable solutions. Read more.