A new United Nations analysis has found that the Asia-Pacific region now accounts for three-quarters of the world’s disaster-affected people, underscoring a widening humanitarian crisis across the region that threatens progress on global development targets. In figures released on Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that people living in Asia and the Pacific are “six times more likely” to be affected by disasters than those elsewhere.
OCHA’s latest humanitarian overview paints a stark picture: roughly 70 million people in the region are affected by disasters each year, and natural hazards are driving massive movements of people — the agency reports 24 million international displacements linked to natural hazards. Conflict and violence remain a separate but persistent cause of displacement, with 1.5 million internal displacements attributed to those drivers. Overall, OCHA says the region currently hosts about 7.1 million internally displaced people and 6.4 million refugees and asylum seekers.
The report also sounded the alarm on sustainable development. According to OCHA, none of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are on track in the region, and at the current trajectory the Asia-Pacific will miss 88 percent of its measurable SDG targets by 2030 — a shortfall equivalent to failing to meet 103 of 117 measurable targets. That lag has tangible consequences for food security, poverty and child health across the region.
Food insecurity and malnutrition are highlighted as urgent humanitarian concerns. OCHA estimates about 69 million people in the region are acutely food insecure, representing a quarter of the global total. Child malnutrition remains widespread, with a reported 23 percent stunting prevalence among children under five — a burden the agency notes accounts for a large share of the global total of affected children. The UN also flagged entrenched gender disparities: two out of every three people living in poverty in the region are women.
Climate exposure and extreme weather compound these challenges. OCHA cited Climate Risk Index analysis showing nine Asia-Pacific countries among the world’s 20 most affected by extreme weather events: Myanmar, the Philippines, India, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vanuatu. The inclusion of Vanuatu reflects the severe vulnerability of Pacific island states to cyclones, sea-level rise and other climate impacts — a pattern Pacific nations have repeatedly warned undermines development gains and strains local response capacities.
OCHA’s update frames an escalating need for humanitarian assistance, disaster risk reduction and sustained investment in resilience across the Asia-Pacific. By quantifying the scale of displacement, poverty and malnutrition alongside the region’s disproportionate exposure to natural hazards, the UN agency’s figures are likely to sharpen calls for greater international funding, climate adaptation measures and targeted programmes to protect women and children who face the greatest risks. The report underscores that without faster, bigger action, the region’s humanitarian and development shortfalls will deepen as extreme weather and conflict continue to intersect.
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