- a major humanitarian crisis that is often the result of a combination of political instability, conflict and violence, social inequities and underlying poverty. Complex emergencies are essentially political in nature and can erode the cultural, civil, political and economic stability of societies, particularly when exacerbated by natural hazards and diseases such as HIV and AIDS - limited access to food, clean water, and housing; violence; and failing health infrastructure, and cultures, ethnic groups, religious groups at risk of extinction.