Sudan

After more than 20 months of relentless conflict, Sudan has become one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Ongoing armed conflict and attacks against civilians, displacement, hunger, malnutrition, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks have left nearly two-thirds of the population in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection services.

An estimated 11.5 million people¹ are forcibly displaced in Sudan, including 2.7 million displaced prior to April 2023, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. Children make up well over half of the displaced population.

Sudan is also experiencing an unprecedented food security crisis, with close to 26 million people facing acute food insecurity as of late September 2024 and expected even to further worsen. The situation is particularly dire for those trapped in active conflict zones, including Aj Jazirah, North Darfur and Khartoum states, and the Kordofan region. In late July, famine conditions were confirmed in Zamzam camp in North Darfur, with similar conditions likely in other displacement sites in the area, and many other locations at imminent risk.

Even before the current conflict, Sudan had a global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate of 13.6 per cent among children under five, ranking it among the top four countries globally for the highest GAM rates, alongside India, South Sudan and Yemen. Recent nutrition surveys indicate a deteriorating situation, with 30 out 38 SMART surveys reporting GAM levels of 15 percent or higher, which is classified as a WHO emergency level. Notably, three surveys recorded GAM rates of 30 percent and above, reaching the famine threshold. The 2025 outlook suggests further deterioration in acute malnutrition cases among children under five and pregnant and breast-feeding women. This might exceed the estimated needs, especially as the conflict intensified with the onset of the dry season in October 2024.

In addition to the widening conflict, climate shocks —including unusually heavy rains and flooding— and disease outbreaks, like cholera and measles, are exacerbating humanitarian needs. The conflict has upended the lives of 24 million children, with over 17 million out of school, creating a generational catastrophe. School-aged girls face additional threats, including child marriage, female genital mutilation, and sexual exploitation and abuse, which can significantly exacerbate the barriers to their return to school. These factors deepen the cycle of gender-based vulnerabilities, further entrenching limited opportunities and perpetuating inequality.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of armed violence. The fighting has led to mass displacement and appalling patterns of sexual violence against women and girls, indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, widespread damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure, attacks on healthcare facilities and ethnically motivated killings. Children continue to be killed and maimed, subjected to sexual violence, recruited by armed actors and denied essential services and humanitarian assistance. The number of people at risk of gender-based violence (GBV) has tripled since the conflict started in April 2023, now totalling over 12 million women, girls, men, and boys. In addition, most conflict-affected areas have become heavily contaminated by large-scale explosive hazards.

Access to essential services has sharply declined due to the conflict. Less than 25 per cent of health facilities remain functional in the hardest-hit areas and national vaccination coverage has plummeted from 85 per cent before the conflict to around 50 per cent. In active conflict zones vaccination rates are averaging 30 per cent. Schools are closed in many parts of the country, and water and sanitation systems are at breaking point, compounding the spiralling risks faced by women and girls. An ongoing telecommunications blackout across much of the country, including Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum, is cutting millions of people off from access to life-saving information, as well as banking and other services.

The levels of need are staggering. While assistance is reaching many areas, with local communities and networks playing an indispensable role, humanitarian access challenges severely limit the ability of humanitarian organizations to scale up, especially in active conflict zones where needs are generally most acute.