Country Focus: Sudan and the Region

Sudan was plunged into a conflict of alarming scale in mid-April 2023 when fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces broke out. While fighting was initially centred in the capital Khartoum, it quickly expanded to other areas across the country. The prolonged violence and insecurity have resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties, extensive damage to critical infrastructure and facilities, as well as large-scale displacement, with over 10 million people displaced inside and out of Sudan. As a result, Sudan currently faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world and the most significant child displacement crisis, with more than three million children displaced inside and outside the country.

The impact of conflict has been disastrous for civilians. Nearly one in three people in Sudan is acutely food insecure, and the already-fragile health system is in tatters, with looming disease outbreaks, including an alarming cholera outbreak, as well as dengue fever, measles, and malaria. Sudan faces the worst levels of acute food insecurity in its history, with more than half of its population – 25.6 million people – in acute hunger. That includes more than 8.5 million people facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC 4), as well as more than 755,000 people who are in catastrophic conditions (IPC 5) in Greater Darfur, South and North Kordofan, Blue Nile, Aj Jazirah, and Khartoum.

Despite some of the most challenging and dangerous circumstances, local and international organizations continue to deliver humanitarian assistance, reaching nearly eight million people during the first half of this year. However, humanitarian access to reach all vulnerable people throughout the country remains severely hampered by ongoing hostilities, attacks on humanitarian workers, and operational and administrative constraints.

The Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan for 2024 requires $2.7 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 14.7 million people in need. As of end-August, the plan is 41.1 per cent funded ($1.10 billion). Some sectors are covered much less than the average and face higher funding gaps: Nutrition (28.8 per cent); Emergency Shelter and Non-Food Items (26.4 per cent); Protection (22.5 per cent); WASH (21.6 per cent); Site Management (9.2 per cent); Education (nine per cent); Logistics (less than one per cent funded).

In anticipation of worsening food security conditions, humanitarian partners launched a Famine Prevention Plan (FPP) in April 2024. The plan targets 7.6 million people in acute need in priority areas in response to a famine early warning issued in March. While at least 5.6 million people (74 per cent of the target) received some form of assistance between May and July, the response falls short of meeting the acute needs. The Famine Prevention plan prioritizes a multisector approach, integrating food, nutrition, health and WASH response with other clusters. For more information please see: Sudan: Famine Prevention Snapshot, May - July 2024 | OCHA (unocha.org).

Since the beginning of the crisis in May 2023, the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) have allocated $281.2 million ($101.3 million from CERF and $179.9 from the SHF) to ensure life-saving aid for 4.7 million and 4.6 million people, respectively, across Sudan. The allocations from the two funds ensure critical humanitarian support to the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict with much-needed health assistance, including sexual and reproductive services, shelter, water, food, and protection services.

On 25 September, in the margins of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, a High-level Event will be convened to strengthen support for the humanitarian response in Sudan and the region. For more information, please contact Ms. Patricia Nyimbae Agwaro at agwaro@un.org.