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Current Requirements (US$)$611.8 million
Crisis overview
The conflict in Sudan has become one of the largest and most devastating displacement, humanitarian and protection crises in the world today. Since 15 April 2023, clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have displaced nearly 11.4 million people inside Sudan and into the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda. As of October 2024, almost 3 million people fled Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict. This includes nearly 2.3 million refugees and asylum-seekers. Sudan was also a large refugee-hosting country and close to 655,000 refugees residing there have been compelled to return mainly to South Sudan, but also Central African Republic and Ethiopia, in adverse conditions. By end of August 2024, Chad had received 163,654 refugee and migrant returnees from Sudan. Another estimated 260,000 refugees in Sudan who were largely self-reliant prior to the conflict were forced to self-relocate within Sudan to relatively safer areas, putting a strain on already limited resources, infrastructure and social services.
Sudan is also facing the worst levels of food insecurity in its history, with a staggering 26 million people suffering from acute hunger. Famine conditions were confirmed in August 2024, and the situation was particularly critical for people trapped in the conflict-affected areas of Aj Jazirah, Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan. Concurrently, Sudan is also struggling with diseases and flooding, exacerbating the suffering of the population.
Most refugees from Sudan arrive in asylum countries in dire conditions, with little or no assets or resources. Many encountered violence during flight, and in particular, women and girls faced gender-based violence (GBV) risks while in transit, in temporary shelters, and at the borders. Family separation is a concern, with the impact mainly on children. Refugees exhibit high levels of mental distress, and reports of intimate partner violence in CAR, Chad, and South Sudan, account for 79, 66 and 52 per cent of disclosed GBV incidents occurring in the camps, respectively. At the same time, a relatively large proportion of the Sudanese refugee population in some countries are urban and educated, with professional skills. To meet the needs of the displaced, asylum countries will need to expand and strengthen tailored protection and assistance programmes for refugee populations.
Upper Nile State, South Sudan
A UNHCR staff member registers a refugee who fled the conflict in Khartoum, Sudan, at the registration centre in Renk Transit Centre 2.
UNHCR/Samuel OtienoThe asylum countries are affected by climate disasters annually, impacting the humanitarian response. In Chad, in 2024, more than 32,000 refugees were affected by floods in the four provinces of Ouaddaï, Wadi-Fira, Sila and Enndi Est, with thousands of refugees and host communities displaced, as their shelters, water and sanitation facilities were destroyed. In South Sudan, heavy rainfall and flooding caused widespread disruption to service delivery in Jamjang and Maban, where new arrivals were hosted. In Jamjang, over 500 metric tonnes of food remained undelivered for several months, affecting planned refugee relocations from Renk, via Malakal, to Ajuong Thok and Pamir camps. Humanitarian partners will need to institute emergency measures as well as climate resilience programming to be able to respond to the needs of the displaced in 2025.
Humanitarian programmes across refugee-hosting countries need sustained international support to respond, but throughout 2024, they were underfunded with severe consequences. The food basket in most hosting countries only partially met the recommended dietary needs of refugees, leading to food insecurity and exacerbating harmful coping mechanisms. Protection services, including critical GBV services in transit centres, were scaled back due to limited funding such as in Ethiopia. Registration and access to documentation are also affected by long waiting periods for asylum-seekers, particularly in Egypt, where the Government estimates that 1.2 million Sudanese fled to Egypt since the start of the conflict in mid-April 2023. These services are all critical to refugee well-being and will need to be strengthened in 2025.
Despite attempts at various ceasefires and peace agreements, restoration of peace has been unsuccessful. If the conflict continues in 2025, refugees, returnees, and third country nationals will likely continue to flee out of the country, with an estimated 4 million in need in neighbouring and nearby countries by the end of the year. Land travel will remain the most widely used mode of transportation despite remote entry points to neighbouring countries. In 2024, partners in the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) scaled up and established themselves in these remote locations, but these areas had difficult conditions that required extensive and costly logistical arrangements. Partners will need to continue providing life-saving assistance and onward transportation for new arrivals to camps or settlements for refugees and other destinations for returnees and third country nationals.
Ruweng, South Sudan
Amira, a Sudanese refugee, plants sorghum on her farm in Ajuong Thok refugee camp, Ruweng, showcasing resilience and self-reliance through agriculture.
UNHCR/Samuel OtienoResponse priorities in 2025
With the possibility of protracted displacement, it is imperative for RRP partners to strengthen the focus on addressing development and resilience needs to foster greater stability and self-sufficiency alongside the humanitarian response.
Greater efforts will be invested in 2025 in the seven main refugee-hosting countries to include refugees in national social services, particularly health and education, as well as financial and economic inclusion. The concerted efforts at engaging development partners since the start of the crisis, will be further stepped up in 2025, building on engagements with the African Development Bank, the World Bank, the EU’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships and other development actors. Partners will invest in integrated settlements, extending and expanding service delivery and creating economic opportunities in areas impacted by displacement.
In 2025, country operations will improve their localization engagement by including and/or expanding the presence of national NGOs in the response and supporting them to better tailor interventions to field realities. This will include engaging with country-level NGO forums on localization strategies, as well as working with community-based protection structures to increase the number of refugee-led organizations (RLOs) and local NGOs across all sectors and sub-sectors working groups involved in the refugee response. Engaging refugees to increase their meaningful participation in the planning and implementation of community responses, ensuring that interventions are more inclusive and better suited to local realities, will also be key areas to expand in 2025.
The plan also prioritizes cross-cutting efforts to enhance protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and accountability to affected populations, and promotes age, gender equality and diversity inclusion. Partners are also committed to mitigating climate shocks across the response.
Sila, Chad
Hawida, a former teacher and mother of six, reviews her documents with a UNHCR staff member at Kerfi refugee settlement.
UNHCR/Eugene SibomanaFor 2025, RRP partners require $1.78 billion to protect and assist close to 5 million refugees, returnees, host community members and others. The regional strategic objectives guiding the response for 2025 are to:
- Support host countries in ensuring access to territory and asylum for all individuals in need of international protection, in compliance with the principle of non-refoulement and other regional and international obligations, including maintaining the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum.
- Support host countries to provide timely, effective and inclusive life-saving protection and humanitarian assistance for those fleeing Sudan, with a specific focus on identifying protection risks and supporting those at heightened risk and in need of specialized protection interventions including family reunification, resettlement and complementary pathways.
- Support host countries to strengthen institutional and local capacity to include refugees in national systems and services, particularly in health, education, child protection and the economy, and ensure that refugees can live in integrated settlements with their host communities.
- Support neighbouring countries to ensure access to their territory for third country nationals fleeing Sudan, and assist, in close coordination with embassies and consulates, immigration procedures and the option to enable them to return home to their respective countries of origin.
Benishangul-Gumuz, Ethiopia
Hawa, a 40-year-old Sudanese refugee, stands outside her shelter with her daughters Islam, 7, and Maha, 10, at Kurmuk transit centre.
UNHCR/Tiksa Negeri2024 in review: Response highlights and consequences of inaction
Response highlights
Protection
117,000 individuals received protection services.
Includes Child Protection services and GBV responses, Jan - Aug 2024Food
984,000 individuals provided with food assistance.
Shelter
223,000 individuals supported with shelter or housing assistance.
Cash
167,000 individuals relocated or supported with transportation cash allowance.
Jan - Aug 2024Non-food items
229,000 individuals received non-food items.
Jan - Aug 2024Health
326,000 individuals provided with primary healthcare consultations.
Jan - Aug 2024Consequences of inaction
Access constraints affected the timely response to refugees seeking asylum, specifically insecurity in the Vakaga prefecture of Central African Republic, where refugees are hosted, in the Amhara region of Ethiopia where two settlements were closed down, and in Libya where access constraints have limited the response.
Ethiopia | Food
The food basket provided to refugees could only meet 60 per cent of the recommended dietary needs.
Ethiopia | Sanitation
In the transit centres and settlements hosting new arrivals, an average of 94 individuals are sharing a latrine compared to the standard of fewer than 50, contributing to the risk of diseases and reduced dignity.
South Sudan | Camp coordination and camp management
The Renk Transit Centre remains overcrowded, without the proper infrastructure, such as access roads, drainage systems, and sanitation facilities.
South Sudan | Non-food items
New arrivals lack essential non-food items, such as kitchen sets, mosquito nets, soap and blankets, necessary for basic living conditions.
Uganda | Gender-based violence
In 2024, there was a 67 per cent reduction in GBV caseworkers from 2023 across the operation, and most collection points and transit centres do not have dedicated GBV caseworkers.
Uganda | Water, sanitation and hygiene
Due to the large influx of Sudanese refugees, the water system of Kiryandongo settlement is in a critical situation. Access to safe water has severely degraded, from 17 litres per person per day in January 2024 to less than 10 litres per person per day in September 2024.
Central African Republic | Lack of funding and access
The lack of funding, along with access challenges to some of the areas where Sudanese refugees are arriving, has left 29,415 refugees with limited access to protection, shelter, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), healthcare, education, and food.
Central African Republic | Water supply
In Korsi refugee settlement, the water supply is only 7.5 litres per person per day, far below the post-emergency standard of 20 litres per person per day. Conflicts over water points put women and children at particular risk of harm, as well as heatstroke due to high temperatures.
Chad | Health
There is only one doctor for every 25,000 people, more than twice the standard ratio, and a limited supply of essential drugs.
Chad | Protection
Protection case managers cover 3 to 4 times the standard number of cases, that is, 1 case manager for every 66 child protection cases, 1 case manager for 84 GBV cases and 1 case manager for 84 mental health and psychosocial support cases.
Egypt | Education
54 per cent of all school-aged children (238,000) arriving from Sudan are out of school as of September 2024.
Egypt | Host community
With Egypt’s resources already stretched, reduced funding is likely to exacerbate tensions between refugees and host communities. Rising unemployment and poverty for refugees in Egypt will increase the burden on the host community and give rise to negative sentiments towards refugees.
Libya | Child protection
The ongoing underfunding of child protection services (4 per cent funded) exacerbates the suffering of children, leading to an inability to provide service continuity, especially affecting those on the move.
Libya | Education
Education is only 8 per cent funded, leaving Sudanese children out of school and exposed to major risks of child labour, domestic violence, child and early marriage and the risk of smuggling and trafficking.
References
- GBV: Sudan Situation June 2024: https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/111029
- External Update 76 https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/110914
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