8 African countries battling massive humanitarian crises with little global attention

Business Insider

15-07-2025

Conflict, political instability, climate shocks, and armed violence displaced millions across the continent in 2024, with eight African countries ranking among the world's most neglected humanitarian crises, according to a new report.
Conflict, climate crises, and political instability are causing widespread displacement across Africa.
These crises often receive minimal international media coverage and limited humanitarian funding.
Eight out of ten of the most neglected displacement crises globally are within Africa, such as in Cameroon and Ethiopia.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) 2024 report shows eight African countries face some of the world's most overlooked humanitarian crises, driven by conflict, climate shocks, and displacement, yet met with limited funding, media coverage, and global response.
Yet many of these crises unfold far from the international spotlight, drawing little attention from global media, donors, or policymakers.
As humanitarian funding falls short and coverage remains minimal, the needs of the displaced often go unmet, leaving entire communities in prolonged states of uncertainty, vulnerability, and despair.
The NRC report shows global displacement has doubled in ten years, with 2024 marking record highs due to conflict, climate shocks, and political instability. Humanitarian systems are overwhelmed, and funding met just half of growing needs.
The report notes a $25 billion shortfall roughly equal to global defense spending every 3–4 days. In most cases, response plans were barely 40% funded. Underfunding, coupled with weak media coverage, has left many of these crises largely invisible.
In 2024, humanitarian funding met just half of global needs, as shifting priorities and economic strain led to sharp cuts.
'The shortfall between what was needed and what was delivered… reached a staggering USD 25 billion, roughly what the world spends on defence every three to four days,' the NRC reported.
A 50% funding level is now seen as relatively strong, yet most crises received barely 40%. This chronic shortfall, the report adds, is deepened by minimal media attention, leaving many emergencies invisible.
Neglected crisis regions in Africa
Displacement in many African countries is a long-running, complex crisis, not a short-term emergency. Families are often uprooted multiple times, with limited access to food, shelter, education, and healthcare.
Yet these crises remain underfunded and overlooked, not because they are less severe, but because they lie outside the strategic interests of major powers.
Neglected crises in Africa are not ignored because they're less urgent, but because they fall outside the global community's strategic priorities.
Political and economic considerations, along with limited media focus, often determine which emergencies receive attention.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the table below highlights the eight most neglected displacement crises in Africa for 2024 based on limited funding, weak media attention, and lack of political engagement.
These countries represent some of the most severe yet overlooked humanitarian emergencies on the continent.
Country Population Internally Displaced Refugees
1 Cameroon 28.8 m 1 m 480,000
2 Ethiopia 128.7 m 2.3 m 1 m
3 Mozambique 33.3 m 600,000 —
4 Burkina Faso 23.4 m 2 m 38,580
5 Mali 23.8 m 360,000 155,000
6 Uganda 48.6 m 300,000 1.8 m
7 DR Congo 105.8 m 6.2 m —
8 Somalia 19 m 3.5 m 43,800
According to the NRC's 2024 ranking, eight of the world's ten most neglected displacement crises are in Africa, with Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and Mali leading the list. Iran and Honduras round out the top ten.
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and Mali make up the top five, each grappling with widespread internal displacement from hundreds of thousands to over two million people, and mounting refugee pressures.