Sustainability Language

Development, Impact & Global Frameworks

Complex emergency

A humanitarian crisis in which authority has broken down, typically amid conflict, requiring a multi-agency international response.

Established · Version 0.1

Expert review openNo editor-accepted expert review yet

Definition

A complex emergency is defined by the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (1994) as a humanitarian crisis in a country, region or society where there is a total or considerable breakdown of authority resulting from internal or external conflict, requiring an international response beyond the mandate or capacity of any single agency or ongoing UN country programme. Typical features include extensive violence and loss of life, displacement, and widespread damage to societies and economies.

References

Overview

What it means

The term distinguishes crises driven by political breakdown and conflict from purely natural disasters — and many emergencies now combine both.

How it is used

UN OCHA uses the designation to trigger coordination mechanisms such as the cluster system, special appeals and multi-agency information management.

Why it matters

Most large, protracted humanitarian crises today are complex emergencies, increasingly compounded by climate shocks.

Review

Public comments appear only after editor acceptance. Draft comments stay in the review queue.

0
How people contribute

Reviewers choose the definition or an overview paragraph, leave a comment or replacement, and attach evidence or a source link.

How comments are used

Editors compare reviewer cards side by side. AI may help find agreement, conflicts, unsupported claims and possible source issues.

What gets published

Only an editor-accepted synthesis changes the public page. Reviewer identities are shown only with consent and verification.

No verified experts yet

Submitted reviews stay private until accepted.

Endorse this definitionSuggest a revisionSubmit a wider review

Loading verified endorsements… Endorsements are not votes and never determine publication.

Endorse this definition

Endorse the exact version shown here. This is not a vote, and publication remains an editorial decision.

v0.1

Sign-in supplies your email for verification and necessary follow-up; it is not displayed publicly. We do not ask you to enter it again.

Sign in with a passwordless email link before submitting.

Review board

Comment on a specific line. Each reviewer stays separate until an editor accepts a merged draft.

1Separate reviewer cards

Each person comments on the definition or overview in their own draft card, with role, evidence and suggested wording kept together.

2AI comparison

AI can compare comments against the current text, flag conflicting claims, surface missing evidence and identify where reviewers agree.

3Editor synthesis

An editor merges compatible suggestions into a draft change, checks sources, records disagreements and decides what can be published.

Text to reviewChoose the exact definition or overview paragraph.
Reviewer commentDraft only. Not public until editor accepted.
Definition
Reviewer identityYour signed-in account identifies the submission. We use its email only for verification and necessary follow-up, and never display it publicly.
Before you submit

This proposal follows the editorial and AI-assistance rules. The live definition will not change until an editor accepts it.

  • Add the proposed wording or note.
  • Explain why the change is needed.
  • Ready
  • Ready

Sign in with a passwordless email link before submitting.

You can still save a draft, but completing these items makes editorial review faster. Multiple reviewers can suggest changes on the same text. Editors compare, merge, accept or decline them before any public change.