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READ FULL STORYOn World Humanitarian Day, we pause to recognize the importance of providing lifesaving assistance to those in need, and to honor the brave humanitarians who have lost their lives trying to help vulnerable people. World Humanitarian Day marks the sacrifices of aid workers who deliver help in the world’s most dangerous situations, and it’s a call to protect them and the work they do. The day also reaffirms the principles that make humanitarian action possible – humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence. These standards must ensure aid reaches people based on need alone, not politics or military strategy.
There are currently over 252 million people in need of humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 13 million more than when this year’s Global Humanitarian Overview was launched. These millions of people, caught up in disaster or conflict, are affected by the steepest funding cuts in recent memory. Led by U.S. cuts, humanitarian funding fell by more than 30 percent between 2024 and 2025. 2026 is the first year in which fewer than 60 percent of people in need are targeted for assistance because of hyper-prioritization from OCHA.
When USCRI last reflected on World Humanitarian Day, 2023 was the most dangerous year on record for humanitarian workers. 2024 has since become the deadliest year with at least 387 humanitarian workers killed. 2025 was not far behind as 350 humanitarian workers were killed. New analysis using data from the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) found that national staff continue to bear the brunt of violence against humanitarian workers. Between 2021 and 2026, nearly 3,500 humanitarian workers were victims of attacks, including killings, kidnappings, and detentions. Of these, more than 90 percent targeted national staff.
Urgent Humanitarian Crises and Responses
The 2025 Global Trends report and the 2026 Global Report on Internal Displacement show that 41.6 million people were refugees and 82.2 million were internally displaced at the end of 2025. Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of conflict, violence, climate shocks, and other crises. Below are some of the worst crises requiring humanitarian response.
- Sudan faces the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 33 million people in need and over 19 million facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Nearly nine million people remain displaced inside Sudan. USCRI continues to document how Sudan’s deepening crisis is met with global inaction.
- South Sudan is also dealing with a severe humanitarian emergency with two-thirds of the population in need of assistance, while more than 650,000 refugees and asylum seekers are at risk of losing critical food and nutrition assistance due to funding cuts.
- Yemen’s ongoing conflict has left 22 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, including 5.2 million internally displaced people. The 2026 response plan targeted 12 million, but was funded at only 24 percent, which is only enough to support one in four people in need.
- Afghanistan has an estimated 21.9 million people requiring humanitarian assistance in 2026, 45 percent of Afghanistan’s population, with over 17 million facing acute food insecurity. USCRI has looked at the impact of return without protection and how the deportation of displaced Afghans has compounded the crisis.
- The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is dealing with the deadliest Ebola outbreak in its history, which has now caused more than 2,300 deaths as of August 17. Tom Fletcher, the UN humanitarian chief, has said it has become the fastest-growing outbreak on record. The disease is unfolding in conflict-affected areas, and there are approximately 15 million people in need throughout the country.
- Palestine is experiencing acute humanitarian needs and remains one of the world’s most dangerous places for humanitarian workers. Gaza is facing a severe food security crisis with 67 percent of its population facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Roughly 1.7 million people continue to shelter in nearly 1,600 displacement sites. More than 560 humanitarians have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023, and Gaza was the deadliest place in the world for aid workers in 2024. 3.6 million people in Palestine are in need of humanitarian aid.
- Haiti is facing a deepening humanitarian and protection crisis as armed gangs expand territorial control and violence continues to drive displacement; more than 1.4 million people remain internally displaced, while insecurity, sexual violence, and the collapse of essential services have left millions in need of humanitarian assistance.
The People Behind the Response
Behind every humanitarian crisis response are people willing to go where others cannot. Aid workers deliver food, provide medical care, support displaced families, and help communities recover. In many cases, they are national staff working in their own communities, experiencing the same crisis while helping others survive it.
Across Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Haiti, and countless other crises, humanitarian workers continue to show up despite violence, obstruction, displacement, and increasingly severe funding constraints.
But for an aid worker, humanitarian need is not an abstract number. It is the patient in need of treatment, the child who needs nourishing food to grow, and the family searching for safety. Their work turns the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence into action.
As the global community comes together to mark World Humanitarian Day and uplift the call to act for humanity, we remember the people behind the numbers. Action means protecting those who continue this work, ensuring they have the resources to reach people in need, and defending the humanitarian principles that make their work possible. It means all States and warring parties uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including to protect civilians and humanitarian workers and allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access. If we are to act for humanity, we must stand alongside those who put humanity into action every day.
