Africa strengthens crisis response platform

Africa’s top continental body has launched a new humanitarian coordination platform aimed at tightening crisis response across a region facing widening displacement, hunger, conflict and climate-linked disasters.

The African Humanitarian Coordination Platform was unveiled by the African Union Commission through its Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development after a continental engagement in Mahé, Seychelles, held from 18 to 19 May 2026. The meeting endorsed the platform’s terms of reference and adopted a draft 2026–2027 Joint Implementation Plan designed to turn policy commitments into operational coordination.

The initiative is intended to provide a structured mechanism for humanitarian diplomacy, advocacy, localisation, financing, resource mobilisation, the humanitarian-peace-development nexus and better documentation of African solidarity and accountability. It comes as more than 160 million people across the continent require humanitarian assistance, while about 45 million have been forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution, disasters and economic stress.

The funding gap remains severe. Only 26.7 per cent of required humanitarian financing for Africa is currently met, restricting the ability of governments, regional bodies, aid agencies and local responders to provide timely support. That shortfall has deepened pressure on food assistance, health services, water and sanitation, protection work and education for children caught in emergencies.

Delegates in Seychelles signed a ceremonial pledge board to signal political commitment to the new mechanism. The meeting was convened under the theme “From Commitment to Action: Operationalizing the Humanitarian Coordination Platform,” reflecting a shift from declarations to practical implementation. Participants stressed that humanitarian coordination in Africa must become “systematic, structured, African led, and action oriented.”

The platform brings together a broad set of stakeholders, including the African Union Commission’s departments responsible for health, humanitarian affairs, social development, political affairs, peace and security, agriculture, rural development, blue economy and environment, along with the Women, Gender and Youth Directorate. AU organs involved include the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the African Peer Review Mechanism, the Office of the AU Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security and ECOSOCC.

Regional Economic Communities represented at the Mahé engagement included CEN-SAD, COMESA, the East African Community, ECCAS, ECOWAS and IGAD. Their participation is central because many humanitarian crises cut across borders, particularly in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, the Great Lakes region and parts of southern Africa where displacement, food insecurity and insecurity are interconnected.

The platform is also linked to earlier African Union decisions, including policy directives from the AU Assembly and Executive Council, and commitments made at the Malabo Extraordinary Humanitarian Summit and Pledging Conference. Its success will depend on whether these decisions can be converted into faster information-sharing, clearer division of responsibility and stronger support for national and local responders.

The continent’s humanitarian pressures have become more complex. Sudan’s war has generated one of the world’s largest displacement crises, with famine conditions recorded in parts of the country and spillover effects reaching Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia and parts of Kenya continue to face severe food insecurity, while conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has intensified humanitarian access constraints and protection risks.

Climate shocks are adding to the burden. Floods, droughts, cyclones and disease outbreaks have repeatedly strained public systems, destroyed livelihoods and pushed vulnerable communities into deeper dependency on emergency assistance. Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi and parts of the Horn of Africa have all faced disaster-linked needs that require coordination across relief, recovery and resilience planning.

The new platform’s emphasis on localisation reflects a growing recognition that community-based responders often reach affected populations first and remain active after international agencies scale down. Local civil society groups, national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, women-led organisations and community emergency networks have become essential in hard-to-reach areas, yet they continue to face funding, security and logistical constraints.

Humanitarian financing will be one of the platform’s most difficult tests. Global aid budgets have come under strain as donor governments reassess spending priorities, while the number of people requiring assistance remains high. A continental coordination mechanism may improve efficiency and reduce duplication, but it cannot substitute for sustained funding, safe access and respect for humanitarian principles.