In 2025, the MENA region faced overlapping crises including conflict, displacement, economic collapse, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks, placing children at risk and disrupting access to services.
Since the start of the conflict, some 164,000 people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, including an estimated 33,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 35,000 in Ethiopia, 70,000 in Sudan, and 26,000 in Uganda.
UNHCR and the Commission for Refugees (COR) have responded to referrals of 312 individuals who had been in captivity on average between 5 to 9 months. They have all been accommodated in asylum reception centers for further legal screening and needs assessment.
In 2025, the Regional RRP is designed to target the needs of 2.53 million refugees and 1.84 million members of the host community in the five main asylum countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda.
UNHCR has declared an internal Level 2 emergency for Ethiopia and Sudan due to the escalating crisis in South Sudan, which will remain in force for six months until November 2025.
UNOCHA reports that over 9.3 million children are expected to suffer from high levels of acute malnutrition between June 2024 and May 2025 in Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
As of April 2025, 15 Flow Monitoring Points (FMPs) were operational, monitoring internal movements and cross-border flows with neighboring countries, including Uganda (UGA), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan (SDN), Ethiopia (ETH), Kenya (KEN), and the Central African Republic (CAR).
At least 110,000* severely acutely malnourished children supported by Save the Children in 10 countries could be left without access to life-saving ready-to-use emergency food and nutrition programmes as aid cuts hit supplies in coming months, according to a Save the Children analysis.
