Africa Humanitarian Overview 2026 Mid-Year Report – World

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Conflict and insecurity across Africa are intensifying humanitarian needs, with evolving warfare tactics, including drone use, contributing to rising civilian casualties.
• Nearly 90 aid workers were affected by violence in Africa, with national staff accounting for 95 per cent of those impacted in the first half of 2026.
• El Niño is expected to affect Eastern and Southern Africa through early 2027, increasing humanitarian risks unless early action is scaled up.
• More than 110 million people in Africa, representing over 70 per cent of the global total are facing acute food insecurity at crisis levels or worse. Acute malnutrition remains high.
  As of June 2026, Africa was hosting more than 10.5 million refugees and asylum seekers and 31.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
• Disease outbreaks, including Ebola, cholera and Mpox, are compounding humanitarian needs across Africa amid ongoing conflict, displacement and climate-related shocks.
• Humanitarian access across Africa continued to deteriorate in 2026, with the continent experiencing the sharpest decline globally.
• Despite funding shortfalls, 29.1 million people received humanitarian assistance by mid-2026.