For the second consecutive year, Sudan topped the 2025 watchlist of global humanitarian crises, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) report released on Wednesday.
The list also highlighted Gaza and the West Bank, Myanmar, Syria, and South Sudan as countries facing severe humanitarian challenges.
Originally created by the New York-based IRC more than 15 years ago as an internal planning tool, the watchlist has evolved into a global call to action, according to IRC CEO David Miliband.
The report revealed that 305.1 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian assistance, a sharp increase from 77.9 million in 2015. The 20 countries featured on the IRC’s watchlist are home to 82% of those in need, with Miliband describing the numbers as “crushing.”
“There are more resources to do more good for more people than at any time in history. This makes it all the more bewildering that the gap between humanitarian need and humanitarian funding is also greater than ever,” he wrote in the watchlist report.
The report highlighted that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan is the largest ever recorded, with the country accounting for 10% of the global population in need, despite representing only 1% of the world’s total population.
The crisis was triggered by a violent power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, just ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. This conflict has led to the world’s largest displacement crisis.
In addition to Sudan, the remaining 15 countries on the IRC’s watchlist are: Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Ukraine, and Yemen.