The Emergency Watchlist report is the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) assessment of the 20 countries most likely to face a worsening humanitarian crisis in the coming year. The report is based on an analytically rigorous process that deploys 74 quantitative and qualitative variables, as well as qualitative insights from the IRC’s experience of working in more than 40 countries, to identify which countries to include on the list and how to rank them. Each year, this methodology allows the IRC to accurately identify 85-95% of the countries that then see the worst humanitarian deterioration over the following year. 

This year’s Emergency Watchlist comes at an unprecedented moment. Its theme, “New World Disorder,” sounds the alarm on a dangerous divergence: as humanitarian crises are surging, the global support to address them is collapsing. The surging crises and shrinking support that IRC’s clients face are not just a humanitarian failure, but instead the direct consequence of the geopolitical trends redefining how countries interact with one another.  

The New World Disorder described in this year’s report illustrates what IRC teams witness every day as they help crisis-affected people around the world to survive, recover and gain control over their future. The facts on the ground reveal a humanitarian system overwhelmed when it is needed most. Conflict is escalating dramatically, compounded by climate change and entrenched poverty, while global aid funding has collapsed. The 10 recommendations in this report offer practical and effective ways forward to protect communities in the 20 Watchlist countries from the staggering burden of this disorder and to build more sustainable, resilient systems for the future.

Available documents & links