Crises are increasingly complex and long-lasting. Currently, over one billion people (16% of the world’s population) live in countries experiencing protracted crisis.^[1] The number of countries experiencing protracted crisis rose from 13 in 2005 to 31 in 2019. These countries are home to half the world’s people living in extreme poverty. A strategic approach is required to meet the immediate and longer-term needs of those experiencing crisis, including strengthening their resilience to new shocks.

Crises exacerbate inequalities and vulnerabilities for women and girls, yet a lack of gender-disaggregated data masks the extent of this. An increasing volume of official development assistance is being reported with the purpose of ending gender-based violence, although in 2018 this accounted for under 1% of total ODA allocations.

Severe and prolonged crises persisted in 2019. Conflict and forced displacement drove many of these crises, with an estimated 215.6 million people assessed to be in need of humanitarian assistance. In five countries – Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Palestine – the equivalent of more than half the population required humanitarian assistance. Numbers of displaced people globally increased for the eighth consecutive year in 2019, with the majority being internally displaced.

Displaced people may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.^[2] In 2019, almost one in five displaced people were in countries classified as being at very high risk in terms of health and humanitarian impacts of the pandemic. Displaced persons are already vulnerable, often facing protection challenges and a lack of access to shelter, food and other basic services.^[3]

The impacts of crises are felt disproportionately by people living in poverty, as crises exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and inequalities. Protracted crises are becoming increasingly prevalent, requiring humanitarian assistance to be provided in longer-term responses. Protracted crises often involve more than one crisis happening at once (such as conflict, displacement and natural disasters). They combine acute and long-term needs, requiring strategic support to meet immediate needs and to address structural causes and reduce vulnerabilities to new shocks.

• Over one billion people live in countries experiencing protracted crisis. The number of countries experiencing protracted crisis has increased over the past 15 years: from 13 in 2005, to 20 in 2010, and 31 in 2019.
• Compared to other low- and middle-income countries, countries experiencing protracted crisis have significantly higher poverty rates, with almost one third (30%) of people living in extreme poverty (on less than $1.90 a day).^[4]
• Countries experiencing protracted crisis are home to half of the world’s people living in extreme poverty (357 million of the 712 million people living in extreme poverty), despite accounting for only 16% of the world population overall. More than half of people living in countries experiencing protracted crisis live in poverty (defined as living on less than $3.20 a day).
• Crises hinder and reverse progress, leaving places and populations even further behind. In countries experiencing protracted crisis, poverty rates tend to stagnate or even increase over the course of the crisis. Since 2015, the share of people living in poverty in countries experiencing protracted crisis has remained at 30%, while in other low- and middle-income countries, poverty rates dropped from 8% to 6%.

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is key to ensuring positive health outcomes. Many people living in poverty, however, experience poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene, exacerbating their vulnerability to the impact of crises. Proper handwashing is a key prevention measure against Covid-19, yet household surveys show that access to handwashing facilities is lower in countries experiencing protracted crisis.

• In 2018, 43.7% of households in countries experiencing protracted crisis had access to handwashing facilities.^[5] This compares with 60.7% in other developing countries.
• Access to handwashing facilities drops further for households that are also in the poorest 20% of the world’s population.^[6] Only 30.5% of households in both a country experiencing protracted crisis and the poorest 20% of the global population have access to handwashing facilities.

Severe and ongoing crises persisted in 2019. Conflict and violence fuelled high numbers of people in need in Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Syria, while ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis in Venezuela saw high numbers in need.

• In 2019, an estimated 215.6 million people living in 69 countries were assessed to be in need of humanitarian assistance. More than half (57%) of those in need lived in just 10 countries.
• A high number of people in need were concentrated in just 6 of these 10 countries, with more than 10 million people in need identified in each of the following: Yemen (24.2 million people in need), DRC (15.9 million), Venezuela (14.3 million), Syria (11.7 million), Afghanistan (11.3 million) and the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea (PDR Korea) (10.9 million). These six countries made up more than two fifths (41%) of people in need globally, totalling 88.3 million.

UN humanitarian and regional response plans and appeals set out the need of populations affected by humanitarian crises, as well as proposed responses and funding requirements.

• Only 4 of the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people in need (Yemen, DRC, Syria and South Sudan) are among the 10 countries receiving the largest volumes of funding through UN appeals.

In 2019, conflict and forced displacement continued to drive the crises impacting the largest populations of people in need. Many countries experienced more than one form of crisis (conflict, natural disaster and displacement).

• Of the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people in need, 8 experienced conflict: Yemen, DRC, Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The remaining two countries are Venezuela and PDR Korea; they did not experience high levels of violent conflict^[10] but did experience ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis, and poor harvests coupled with severe food shortages, respectively.
• Displacement crises occurred in 47 countries, with 176.8 million people in need. Of the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people in need, 9 experienced displacement: Yemen, DRC, Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
• Eleven countries experienced both conflict and displacement, with a total of 69.4 million people in need, 32% of the global total.
• Nine countries experienced conflict, displacement and natural disasters, accounting for 64.5 million (30%) of all people in need globally: DRC, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad, Iraq, Niger and Mozambique. Four of these were in the top 10 countries experiencing the highest numbers of people in need: DRC (15.9 million), Afghanistan (11.3 million), Sudan (9.3 million) and Ethiopia (8.9 million).
• Of 69 countries assessed as needing humanitarian assistance, 8 were classified by the INFORM Epidemic Risk Index as being at very high risk of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic: DRC, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Haiti, Central African Republic and Burundi. Of the 69 countries, 36 were classified as high risk and 23 as medium risk; 2 were classified as low risk; and none of the countries were classified as very low risk.
• Of the 10 countries with the highest numbers of people in need, 3 were at very high risk from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic (DRC, Afghanistan and South Sudan), 4 were high risk (Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan and Ethiopia) and 3 were medium risk (Venezuela, Syria and PDR Korea).
• Of the 28 countries in Figure 1.3 that are experiencing protracted crisis, 7 are at very high risk from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic (DRC, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Haiti and Central African Republic), 13 were high risk, and 8 were medium risk (Syria, PDR Korea, Iraq, Turkey, Ukraine, Libya, Myanmar and Jordan).

Despite the limitations of collecting population data in crisis contexts, the proportion of a population identified as in need can give an indication of the extent of crisis and need.

• In 2019, five countries had a total number of people in need that was equivalent to more than half of their population: Yemen (equivalent to 84.8% of its domestic population), Syria (69.3%), South Sudan (63.8%), Central African Republic (55.7%) and Palestine (54.7%).

Numbers of displaced people around the world increased for the eighth consecutive year in 2019, almost doubling since 2009. The past decade has seen an increasing number of displaced people in long-lasting displacement situations, as fewer refugees and internally displaced people are able to return home.^[11] Conflict and crisis continue to drive displacement, with the majority of displaced people being internally displaced, while one third are refugees.

• In 2019 the total number of displaced people increased to 79.5 million, up 8% (6.1 million) from a total of 73.3 million in 2018. This is almost double the 2009 total of 41.1 million.
• Of all displaced people in 2019, 57% (45.6 million) were internally displaced, while 33% (26.1 million) were refugees and 5.2% (4.1 million) were asylum seekers.
• In 2019, 10 countries hosted more than half (55%, 44.0 million) of all displaced people worldwide. The 10 countries hosting the highest numbers of displaced people all saw an increase in their displaced populations in 2019, with the exception of Turkey, which saw a slight decrease to 5.0 million from 5.1 million in 2018.
• Yemen was the country with the biggest increase in the number of displaced people in 2019, increasing to 3.9 million from 2.6 million in 2018. Of the total number of displaced people in Yemen in 2019, 92% (3.6 million) were internally displaced, with the remainder (300,000 people) being refugees.
• The South of Sahara region hosted the largest number of displaced people in 2019, with around a third (33%, 26.1 million) of all displaced people. The Middle East and North of Sahara region hosted over a quarter (28%, 21.9 million) of all displaced people, followed by Europe (13%, 9.9 million), South America (12%, 9.9 million) and South and Central Asia (10%, 7.7 million).

Numbers of displaced people in South America rose significantly in 2019, driven in part by the number of Venezuelans displaced abroad. Venezuelans displaced abroad are recognised as a distinct group of people of concern, although they do not fit the typical criteria for being considered as refugees.

• The total displaced population in South America reached 9.9 million people in 2019. This was an increase of 13% (1.1 million) from 2018. Over half (57%, 5.6 million) of the displaced people in South America were internally displaced.
• The number of Venezuelans displaced abroad reached 3.6 million in 2019, up 38% from 2.6 million in 2018. Venezuelans displaced abroad comprised over a third of the total displaced population in South America, and 4.5% of the total number of people displaced globally in 2019.
• Colombia was the country hosting the largest displaced population in the world in 2019, with 5.6 million internally displaced people and 1.8 million displaced Venezuelans.

Covid-19 poses a challenge for all countries, yet populations of displaced people may be particularly vulnerable, especially where they are hosted in countries at high risk from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• In 2019, almost one in five displaced people (19%, 14.8 million) were displaced in countries classified as at very high risk from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost one third (31%, 24.9 million) of displaced people were in countries classified as at high risk from the impacts of the pandemic.
• Of the 20 countries with the biggest populations of displaced people, 14 were classified as at high or very high risk from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• The South of Sahara region saw a 12% (2.7 million) increase in displaced people in 2019, reaching 26.1 million people. Of these, 11.7 million were in countries at very high risk from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic; 14.1 million were in high-risk countries, and 0.3 million were in medium-risk countries.