Digital humanitarianism, which refers to interventions conducted online, usually without in-person presence, is a product of information and technological advancement.

These emergencies provide the context for another great challenge of 2022: international migration, whether it involves refugees from conflict, politically persecuted asylum-seekers, or economic migrants forced out of their homes by climate change, famine and drought. The UN’s International Organisation for Migration says a record 281 million people, or 3.6% of the global population, were classified as international migrants in 2020. This figure is climbing despite pandemic restrictions on movement across international borders.

According to the International Rescue Committee charity’s 2022 emergency watchlist, 12 of the 20 countries at greatest risk of worsening humanitarian crises are in Africa.

At the end of 2020, the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day had increased to almost 750m, according to the World Data Lab’s World Poverty Clock, a predictive tool which includes World Bank and IMF data. By the end of 2022 they expect that number to edge back down towards where it was before the pandemic, around 685m.