Two months on from the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global energy flows, shocks have rippled through economies worldwide.
Health care in the Middle East and wider region has come under attack about once every six hours on average since conflict escalated a month ago across Lebanon, Iran, and Israel, Save the Children said.
The recent escalation of hostilities across Asia and the Middle East has led to a marked deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The affected areas already host 24.6 million forcibly displaced people, many of whom already face significant protection risks and humanitarian needs, alongside host communities.
In 2025, Yemen’s displacement crisis continued to deepen rather than stabilize, layered on top of a decade-long emergency that has eroded services, livelihoods, and coping capacity. For millions of families, displacement was not a temporary disruption, but an ongoing reality shaped by rising poverty and weakened systems.
At the crossroads of Africa and Europe, Tunisia is exposed to complex movement patterns involving refugees and migrants along the central Mediterranean route.
As of the end of December 2025, South Sudan hosts 605,062 refugees and asylum-seekers across 161,400 households, settled in 29 locations nationwide. This includes 601,814 registered refugees and 3,248 asylum-seekers.
After more than a decade of conflict, Yemen remains one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. The country continues to face the compounded impacts of conflict, climate change, economic collapse, and the near-total breakdown of public services and institutions.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, resumed its Assisted Spontaneous Return (ASR) programme for Somali refugees in Yemen. On 7 October, 70 refugees departed by sea from Aden to Berbera, and today the first UNHCR-supported flight transported 148 returnees to Mogadishu, Somalia.
Since January 3, 2025, Erigavo Regional Hospital in the Sanaag region of northeastern Somaliland has reported ve cases of visceral leishmaniasis, also known as Kala-azar, a disease not historically prevalent in the area.
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.
Escalated armed clashes in Moqokori town, Hiraan region, have displaced at least 1,130 households (at least 6,780 people) to villages in the Buloburto, Jalalaqsi, and Mahas districts.
Yemen remains one of the world’s most acute and complex humanitarian crises. In 2025, protracted conflict, economic decline, and extreme weather driven by climate change have left more than 19.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
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.
Phase One of the Gaza ceasefire, from 19 January to 1 March 2025, allowed the humanitarian community to rapidly implement a prepared scale-up of its response. It enabled the daily entry of a large volume of humanitarian supplies and a steady stream of fuel.
