Global Emergency Update September 2024

Global Emergency Update: CRS Responds to Crises Around the World

Spotlight

Sudan

A humanitarian crisis is worsening across Sudan as conflict disrupts life, increases hunger and displaces millions of people. Armed conflict erupted across the country in April 2023, with fighting concentrated in the capital of Khartoum and in cities across Darfur and Kordofan. More than 10.5 million people have been displaced—7.7 million internally and 2.8 million to neighboring countries. Some 25.6 million people—more than half the population—face severe food shortages. Some 730,000 children are projected to suffer severe acute malnutrition this year. The conflict has taken a heavy toll on infrastructure and limited people’s access to water, health care and other goods and services. Among the most affected areas are North Darfur, South Darfur, Central Darfur and Khartoum.

Limited access to people in need is a critical constraint to providing lifesaving humanitarian aid. About 1.78 million people—mainly in Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum—have not received assistance due to violence, travel delays and significant logistical and communications challenges. Despite these operational challenges, Catholic Relief Services continues to provide emergency and resilience programming in East Darfur, West Darfur, Central Darfur, Khartoum, Red Sea and Gedarif states.

CRS has been able to expand our comprehensive efforts given our years of work in the country, experienced Sudanese staff members and deep partnerships with local organizations. Since September 2023, we have supported 1.1 million people with food, health care, nutrition, child protection, education, social cohesion activities, livelihoods support, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

CRS is also working with partners to provide relief to Sudanese refugees in neighboring Egypt, Chad and South Sudan. Priorities include food, cash assistance, agriculture and livelihood support, shelter and living supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition support, as well as peacebuilding activities and counseling support.

In The News

The Holy Land

Within two weeks of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, and the ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza, CRS began providing assistance to Gazans, building on years of programming in the region. To date, CRS has provided food, shelter and bedding supplies, hygiene items, cash assistance and psychological support to more than 900,000 people across Gaza.

Ongoing mass evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military continue to take a massive toll on people’s safety and access to lifesaving aid. Gazan civilians have been forced into an ever‑smaller area, now equivalent to just 11% of the territory of Gaza. More than 1.9 million people—90% of Gaza’s population—have been displaced, often many times. At least 96%—2.1 million people—are facing crisis levels of hunger, with 495,000 people facing starvation.

Damaged roads severely hamper aid access, and concerns are high that rain and flooding will make them impassable. Attacks on humanitarian personnel and missions have further limited access. Despite the dangers and extreme challenges, CRS staff in Gaza continue to courageously serve hundreds of thousands of civilians under intense hostilities.

CRS also operates offices in Bethlehem and Ramallah and works with a network of 21 local partners across the West Bank. CRS is actively engaged in humanitarian coordination in the West Bank and has begun responding to urgent needs, including provision of cash assistance and shelter support. In Lebanon, CRS is working with Caritas Lebanon to provide assistance to the nearly 100,000 people displaced along the southern border. This includes medical assistance, shelter and food aid, as well as protection and counseling support for children.

Hurricane Beyrl

In July, Hurricane Beryl wrought destruction across Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada, which suffered the heaviest impacts. In Grenada, 95% of buildings were damaged or destroyed. In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 98% of homes and infrastructure were damaged or destroyed on Union Island, and all homes were destroyed in Canouan. In Jamaica, the most affected areas are St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth.

Many people remain without electricity and clean water while living in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions. The damage to agriculture is likely to reduce food availability and lead to rising prices. Transportation has been a significant challenge. Boats have limited capacity to carry humanitarian goods to affected areas, and limited vehicles and road access hamper land transportation. Clergy on the affected islands have played a key role, offering parish halls as emergency operations hubs.

CRS is working with our partners to provide assistance and support for rebuilding and long‑term recovery. Ahead of hurricane season, CRS had worked with partners in Grenada, Jamaica and the Antilles to pre‑position items—such as tarps, blankets, children’s activity kits, hygiene supplies and solar lamps—helping make distributions possible within a week of the disaster.

Ukraine

It has been more than two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to massive displacement and upheaval. The war continues to drive humanitarian needs in Ukraine, particularly in communities close to the front lines. Fighting remains concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine. New and ongoing displacement has left families struggling to meet their daily needs.

Today, nearly 20 million people in Ukraine need assistance to meet their basic needs, repair and heat their homes, cope with trauma and restart their livelihoods. As Ukraine reclaims occupied territory, displaced families return home to find houses and community infrastructure damaged. Although Ukraine’s government has made efforts to support families, the impact has been limited by military defense priorities and coordination challenges.

Since the first days of this crisis, CRS has supported Caritas partners to respond. Even at the onset of the conflict—when Caritas staff members were directly affected and uprooted from their homes—they were able to provide food, shelter, counseling and medical assistance. In the past two years, our Caritas partners have collectively assisted millions of people across their centers, parishes and shelters. This has included food; cash; water, sanitation and hygiene; shelter, including home repair; winter supplies; livelihoods support; and psychological first aid and counseling care.

In eastern Ukraine, CRS has worked closely with Caritas and other partners to help families return to and repair their homes. CRS is also supporting efforts to help families restart their livelihoods with cash assistance for agricultural and livestock production. CRS will continue to support Caritas programs that provide cash assistance to families to ensure they can meet their winter needs.

Across the region, CRS and our partners support Ukrainian refugees as they rebuild their lives, along with the communities hosting them—notably in Moldova, Bulgaria, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Georgia. These activities include safe accommodation, cash assistance, education support for students, help to secure jobs, links to available social services and medical care, language classes, cultural and social gatherings enabling people to adjust to their new surroundings, and information to enable them to make informed decisions about their futures.

1.4 million Haitians are on the verge of famine.

Haiti

Security in Port‑au‑Prince remains unpredictable, amid political protests, attacks by armed gangs, kidnappings and hijackings. Families across Haiti have been weathering a growing humanitarian crisis, with at least 5 million people facing food insecurity. Shortages of basic necessities, fuel and electricity persist in many areas. The May 1 announcement of a new prime minister was followed by increased violence by gangs seeking to consolidate their control of the capital. At least 1.4 million Haitians are on the verge of famine as the political crisis devastates the economy and access to food.

Despite the volatile situation, our current programs continue, including cash assistance for displaced families, as well as relocation to safer sites; improved water, sanitation and hygiene services; agriculture activities for essential crop production; vouchers for fresh food and commodities; support for caregivers and children; youth entrepreneur trainings; learning communities and savings groups, and small business development. This emergency assistance is taking place alongside the continuing U.S. Department of Agriculture McGovern‑Dole Food for Education Program, and ongoing recovery efforts following the 2021 earthquake.

Silent Emergencies

Highlighting crises that may be overlooked in global attention and support

Niger

Torrential rains throughout July and August caused severe flooding that washed away homes, crops and livestock, and affected 219,755 people in eight regions. On August 7, the humanitarian minister declared an official disaster and appealed for emergency international aid. The two main roads linking the capital, Niamey, to the rest of the country are cut off at the entrance to the city.

Zinder and Maradi are the worst‑hit regions, with flooding having destroyed 13,400 homes and about 7,400 acres of crops, as well as killing 3,823 livestock—making communities even more vulnerable to food insecurity. With the destruction of water infrastructure, communities are at risk of waterborne disease.

CRS is coordinating with partners and other responders and will prioritize assistance for shelter as well as essential household and hygiene supplies for families in the most severely affected regions.

South Sudan

South Sudan is now ranked as the world’s third most fragile state as compounded crises put millions of lives at risk. Since the country’s independence in 2011, its people have endured continuous conflict, climate‑driven crises and large‑scale displacement. Consecutive years of extreme flooding have led to major displacement and loss of land and assets.

Hunger has reached an alarming level. An estimated 7.1 million people—59% of the population—are experiencing a degree of food deprivation that puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger. Of this number, 2.3 million people face emergency food insecurity conditions.

Families are selling their assets to cope, while facing destitution, critical acute malnutrition, starvation and even death.

Across Jonglei State, there is catastrophic food insecurity, with the possibility of similar levels in the northeastern Upper Nile region.

CRS is focusing efforts on the Greater Jonglei region. We are distributing emergency food, prioritizing cash and voucher assistance, training school nutrition providers, and supporting agricultural and other income‑generating activities. We are also providing tools for agricultural production and training community animal health workers.

CRS is coordinating at the county, state and national levels. Our response is an extension of programming taking place across the country, including food assistance, livelihoods recovery, comprehensive water, sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition services, and support for market‑based activities.

Benin

Conflict across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has had spillover effects in Benin, which recently received nearly 5,000 refugees fleeing violent clashes between government forces and armed groups in Burkina Faso. Many are living with host families and have yet to receive any assistance. At the same time, armed groups continue to attack the Beninese army, while armed clashes and other types of violence have caused insecurity among the civilian population.

The arrival in Benin of those fleeing Burkina Faso is adding to an already fragile context, which has seen internal displacement and concerning levels of food insecurity. Currently, an estimated, 34,288 people—of whom 13,452 are internally displaced and 20,836 are refugees and asylum seekers—are registered in Benin, mainly in the north.

The CRS response in Benin is focusing on cash assistance for essential living and hygiene supplies for an initial 5,000 people, of whom 75% are refugees and 25% are host families and displaced persons. We are also implementing a McGovern‑Dole Food for Education project in four northern communes to improve the quality of education, school meals, school infrastructure construction, income‑generating activities and hygiene. Also, CRS is implementing a peacebuilding program across six departments, building skills for social cohesion, training and providing financial support for entrepreneurship, and supporting protection of the most vulnerable.

Venezuela

Almost two decades of political turmoil, economic collapse and social unrest have affected millions of people within and outside of Venezuela. In Venezuela, CRS has supported Caritas Venezuela to provide critical health care, water, shelter and other support to 43,000 people. This includes medical assistance for 11,322 people and nutritional screening of 5,100 children under age 5— half of whom received food supplements and support. Also, 1,200 new mothers and pregnant women received nutrition screenings, with more than a third qualifying for nutritional support. CRS has also supported cash assistance for 3,800 families and is partnering with Caritas Venezuela to help families restore livelihoods and, by extension, the local urban and rural economies.

In Peru, CRS is supporting Caritas Peru to provide health care, protection services and shelter to Venezuelan refugees. CRS’ assistance includes improving our partner’s operational capacities, including for rent subsidy programming, protection of migrants, and safe approaches to care for the most vulnerable.

In Brazil, CRS is supporting the operational capacities of Caritas Brasileira as it cares for thousands of Venezuelan refugees in shelters and social service centers. CRS’ technical support to Caritas includes strengthened procedures for risk assessments, feedback and response channels, cash assistance and protection of the most vulnerable.

CRS has also helped Caritas Brasileira respond to two major emergencies in the country: historic flooding in the Rio Grande do Sul state that left more than 400 cities underwater and displaced 129,000 people, and historic drought in the northern state of Roraima on the border with Venezuela.

Philippines

Monsoon rains combined with Tropical Cyclone Enteng in early September have led to severe and widespread flooding across several regions in Luzon and Visayas. The flashfloods damaged infrastructure and crops, and displaced families. An estimated 12,000 people are taking refuge in evacuation centers, while another 23,000 are staying with family or friends.

Evacuation centers lack sufficient sanitation facilities and shelter supplies. Privacy is an expressed concern among women and girls staying in open spaces. CRS is working with our Caritas partners and in coordination with the local government to respond. We are prioritizing water, sanitation and hygiene support, as well as essential living supplies, for those staying in the evacuation centers.

Timor-Leste

Families in Timor‑Leste have been facing increased food insecurity since 2020. Global shocks, including the COVID‑19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, have resulted in a worldwide cost-of-living crisis, with food and other basic commodities becoming unaffordable. Food prices in the country have risen significantly against pre‑pandemic levels due to supply chain disruptions, increased fuel prices, and the global reduction in the rice harvest, among other factors. According to the latest reports, an estimated 27% of the country’s population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

Timor‑Leste has experienced a combination of drought‑like conditions in some regions, and landslides and floods in others. Adverse weather patterns have limited food availability, agriculture‑related employment opportunities, and family food reserves. Lower‑than‑average rainfall during the growing season is now resulting in poor harvests. Urgent action is required to protect livelihoods, reduce food consumption gaps, and minimize negative livelihood coping strategies.

In July, the Timor-Leste government began working with the World Food Program to provide staples such as rice, beans and oil to 18,000 people for the subsequent three months. CRS is mobilizing a response in the municipalities of Viqueque, Lautem, Covalima and Ermera, which are identified as being most at risk of food insecurity, and where CRS has active projects. CRS will coordinate with the WFP and relevant government ministries to identify gaps in coverage and will likely prioritize cash assistance to help families meet their food and other needs.

Notable Impacts

Global Food Crisis

The world has faced numerous food crises in recent years, including severe food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, with continued high levels of chronic hunger and malnutrition affecting about 735 million people globally. CRS recognizes the importance of immediately implementing a holistic, comprehensive approach to not only save lives, but also invest in solutions that help break the cycle of hunger and build resilience.

In the past year, CRS and our partners have supported programs across 30 countries to respond to both emergency needs and the underlying causes of food insecurity. CRS and our partners provided nearly 11 million people with food assistance, more than 90% of which took place in humanitarian contexts This involved working in very isolated or unsafe areas, where people had serious difficulties accessing food. We aimed to help families and communities in urgent need by providing them with food, cash assistance, nutrition, agricultural support and water, as well as by strengthening their capacity to cope with this and future food insecurity.

Across East Africa, CRS managed dozens of projects to help communities facing acute and chronic food insecurity caused by drought and conflict. CRS has also invested in agriculture and resilience-building systems around the world. In Latin America, CRS implemented 37 food-related projects, and in the Sahel region of West Africa we implemented 29 projects. CRS continues to focus on sustainable systems-level change that can lead to scalable impact.

11 million people in 30 countries have received CRS food assistance in the past year.

Innovation

Data Collection on Cross‑Border Humanitarian Collaboration

In recent years, the flow of migrants in search of security across Latin America and the Caribbean has increased due to social, economic and political crisis in Venezuela, as well as the ripple effects of COVID‑19. By early 2022, an estimated 6 million Venezuelans had fled to other countries, notably Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil. In this rapidly changing context of people on the move, up‑to‑date information is vital to enable teams to effectively meet urgent needs.

With strict visa requirements for refugees and migrants in the region, people migrate via unofficial border crossings, which creates a gap in information about who they are and what they need. Since very few safety net services are available to them, it also heightens their vulnerability to risks—especially protection risks for vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors.

In one of the first projects of its kind, CRS is collecting data on cross‑border government and humanitarian collaboration, which can provide insights into more effective care and response in the region, and also into cross‑border issues globally. The project will help humanitarian and government agencies address issues of family reunification, humanitarian transport, unaccompanied minors, human trafficking, health needs and case management. The perspectives of migrants, government agencies and aid actors will inform recommendations and provide a set of practical tools to ensure greater safety, care and support for people on the move.

RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE

Building Safe and Dignified Homes and Communities

When homes are destroyed in a crisis, or when families have to flee their communities, it is not just the walls they leave behind—it is their memories and their sense of security and hope for the future. Helping families rebuild their homes is not only about rebuilding a structure, but about rebuilding that hope.

As a part of our Vision 2030 agency strategy, CRS has undergone a transformational shift from a focus on shelter and settlement—the building of roofs and walls—to homes and communities, the foundation on which life rests.

First, we aim to continue the delivery and expansion of our direct programming in assistance of 1.5 million people by 2030. Second, we aim to support a further 8.5 million people by scaling our efforts.

Since the launch of this priority in 2020, we have reached more than 2.7 million people. With local partners, we are piloting innovative approaches to work with local market systems—vendors, companies and suppliers—to strengthen the capacity of families and communities to independently secure locally sourced construction materials. Scale is not only about doing more directly but also about building relationships with key entities—usually government, humanitarian and development structures and markets actors—so that they can deliver improved services and assistance to the most vulnerable people in their countries. We are constantly investing in local, sustainable solutions for the recovery of families and communities, the local economy and the government systems that support the most vulnerable citizens.

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