Humanitarian Crises: The world is facing what the UN has called a “new world disorder”. Just as humanitarian needs reach record highs, global aid funding is shrinking. For the third year in a row, the IRC ranks Sudan atop the Watchlist as the country most likely to experience a deteriorating humanitarian crisis.
VIENNA MARCH 5: It’s 2026 and the world is facing what the UN has called a “new world disorder.” Conflicts are lasting longer. Climate shocks are intensifying. And just as humanitarian needs reach record highs, global aid funding is shrinking. From Sudan to Gaza and beyond, what are the worst humanitarian crises we should be paying attention to in 2026?
In this episode of What’s the Story?, we break down the 10 most severe humanitarian emergencies shaping our world today. From Sudan’s catastrophic hunger crisis to mass displacement in Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen and Syria, this explainer reveals the scale of global suffering and why funding shortfalls could cost 1.8 million lives.
For more than a decade, the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) annual Emergency Watchlist has accurately predicted 85-95 percent of the countries most likely to face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the coming year. The 2026 report highlights 20 countries and ranks the 10 at greatest risk, as a shifting world order leaves them to confront surging crises amid shrinking international support.
For the third year in a row, the IRC ranks Sudan atop the Watchlist as the country most likely to experience a deteriorating humanitarian crisis. Sudan’s catastrophic civil war, waged between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has killed over 150,000 people since April 2023 and is preventing lifesaving aid from reaching communities in need. The conflict has also triggered a devastating food crisis, forcing regions of Sudan into famine and causing deaths every single day.
Violence and siege warfare have pushed 19.2 million people, 40 percent of the population, into crisis or worse levels of food insecurity.
