New report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) finds that fragile and conflict-affected countries face a double emergency: the arrival and impact of COVID-19, and the secondary humanitarian, economic and political havoc this outbreak will wreak on countries like South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and refugee camps worldwide.

On 30 May 2023, 40-year-old Raouda gave birth to her third child, a healthy baby boy called Abdelrahim Arba Zackaria. Only two weeks before the birth, she did not think she would see her child be born alive. “What if I went into labor in the bush with my [toddler] strapped to my back? How would I manage?”

Each year, the IRC lists the countries at greatest risk of worsening humanitarian crisis over the coming year.

For the EU to effectively tackle humanitarian crises, climate action and malnutrition must be at the top of its agenda and it must opt for proven solutions.