The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday warned that 48.5 million people across Eastern Africa could face a humanitarian crisis this year.
This would be driven by conflict, displacement, climate shocks, disease and worsening food insecurity, it warned.
The organisation said regional food insecurity worsened in the second quarter of the year, with 40.5 million people facing severe hunger, while refugee numbers rose to 6 million.
OCHA said the threat of ebola spreading from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) poses an additional risk to the region.
“Although the Ebola outbreak remains concentrated in the DRC, the risk of regional spread remains high,” OCHA said in its latest humanitarian report.
According to the UN relief agency, regional food insecurity escalated in the second quarter, leaving 40.5 million people facing severe hunger, up 1.6 million from the first quarter of 2025.
OCHA said the largest increases in food insecurity were reported in South Sudan, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania.
It said spillover effects from the Middle East conflict are driving up fuel, transport and food costs while disrupting supply chains and straining already fragile economies.
However, climate shocks displaced nearly 13,000 people in Burundi, while the regional refugee population rose from 5.9 million to 6 million, driven by increases in South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.
The UN agency said regional public health risks remain severe, with second-quarter cholera cases more than doubling to 12,400, while 457 mpox cases were reported in displacement-affected and flood-prone areas.
MG/as/APA