Global humanitarian crises deepen amid record aid cuts in 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, some of the world's most severe humanitarian crises are intensifying as international relief funds dwindle, creating widening gaps between the scale of human suffering and the resources available to respond.

A recent poll of aid agencies identified Sudan as the year's most neglected crisis, with roughly 30 million people in need of assistance amid persistent conflict and blockades to aid delivery.

Sudan's civil war, now in its third year, has entrenched the country at the top of global crisis watchlists. The International Rescue Committee ranked Sudan as the worst humanitarian emergency for the third consecutive year, describing it as the largest crisis ever documented.

The conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced more than 14 million people, killed tens of thousands, and severely undermined civilian infrastructure and basic services.

Recent UN reporting detailed mass killings at displacement camps and escalating violence across regions such as Darfur and Kordofan, where drone strikes and attacks on health facilities have compounded civilian suffering.

The country, home to a 52-million population, is grappling with a deepening crisis on multiple fronts. According to UN figures, more than 21 million people are struggling to secure enough food. Some 4.3 million have fled abroad, and an estimated 10 million children have been shut out of education. At the same time, major health emergencies, including disease outbreaks such as cholera and widespread child malnutrition, are straining an already fragile health system.

Despite global appeals for substantial funding, including a $4.16 billion assistance plan that remains underfunded, aid flows have been insufficient to meet basic needs, leaving many communities without reliable access to food, clean water, or medical care.

Sudan's crisis is not isolated. In the Gaza Strip, humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate after years of war between Israel and Hamas. Recent UN data shows that nearly 10,000 children were treated for acute malnutrition in October alone, a figure already lower than in previous months, and hundreds of pregnant and breastfeeding women are also receiving care for severe nutritional deficiencies.

Despite a ceasefire that began in October, aid groups warn that life-saving operations risk grinding to a halt, with millions of dollars' worth of food, medicines, hygiene supplies and shelter materials stranded outside Gaza and unable to reach families in need.

In August, a UN-backed hunger monitor determined that famine conditions were affecting about half a million people, or a quarter of Gaza's population.

South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are also contending with rapidly deteriorating conditions. In South Sudan, over half of the population – about 7.7 million people – are suffering from severe malnutrition, with 83,000 facing what is described as "catastrophic" food insecurity. The World Food Program has warned that severe funding shortfalls could force cuts to food assistance, placing millions at risk. In eastern DRC, escalating violence since December 1 has killed hundreds, displaced more than half a million people and exposed children to grave risks ranging from attacks on schools to exploitation, family separation and cross-border flight.

This surge in humanitarian need comes as global aid budgets undergo their steepest contraction in decades. By 2026, global aid is projected to fall by nearly a third from its 2023 level, as many donors, particularly the U.S., slash funding for conflict prevention, peacebuilding, humanitarian relief and global public goods such as vaccination programs and climate action.

Aid agencies say the result is a stark mismatch between need and resources, with life-saving services shrinking even as crises deepen. Without renewed diplomatic engagement and funding commitments from the international community, humanitarian experts warn, millions of vulnerable people, particularly women and children, will face deteriorating conditions and increased risk of death from hunger, disease, or violence in the year ahead.