As Sudan’s humanitarian crisis enters its third year of conflict in early 2025, the new Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is focused on addressing rapidly escalating needs in a constantly changing and complex operational environment. With millions of people facing extreme deprivation, displacement, and violence, the response aims to alleviate suffering and prevent further deterioration, carefully balancing urgent priorities with the constraints imposed by the ongoing conflict.
The 2025 response plan seeks to support 20.9 million people with urgent life-saving assistance and services, requiring $4.2 billion in funding. The planning process has considered the severity of needs in conflict-affected regions, including Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum, and the urgent need to secure unhindered access for humanitarian workers and supplies.
Key strategic elements
Addressing Access Impediments: Strengthening principled engagement with all parties and advocating for the protection of civilians and local responders, ensuring the realization of the commitments set out in the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan are of paramount importance. The Joint Operating Principles (JOPs) endorsed by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) will continue to be leveraged, alongside scaling up cross-border operations from Chad and crossline access through all accessible crossing points.
- Advancing Localization and Grassroots Community Networks: Promoting localization and empowering grassroots community networks are central to enhancing the humanitarian response. The localization strategy emphasizes fostering equitable partnerships with national NGOs (NNGOs), while prioritizing sustainable, community-led solutions that build the resilience of those most affected by the crisis. To achieve this, the response strategy underscores the importance of providing financial support and capacity-building initiatives to Mutual Aid Groups (MAGs), ensuring that underserved areas receive context-sensitive and effective assistance.
- Preventing Encampment: Developing a clear operational strategy to support IDPs in host communities, maintaining solidarity, and preventing encampment in environments not conducive to safe returns is equally important.
- Centrality of Protection: Prioritization of the inclusion and rights of vulnerable groups—such as minorities, women, children, people with disabilities, and older individuals—ensures equitable access to humanitarian assistance. Cluster capacities will be strengthened to address specific protection needs, promote inclusive practices, and empower community-led responses, particularly through the leadership of women-led organizations and organizations of people with disabilities, while advancing localization principles.
- Mitigating GBV Risks: The implementation of action plans based on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) guidelines to reduce GBV risks across all clusters and ensure safe access to services for vulnerable populations. Efforts will focus on strengthening national and community-based systems for GBV prevention and care.
- Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action: Grounded in the IASC Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls in Humanitarian Action (GEEWG), the response strategy will integrate gender considerations across all phases of intervention. This includes ensuring the active and meaningful participation of women and girls in humanitarian decision-making processes with the coordination and technical support of the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group.
Strengthening Integrated Response: Clusters will continue efforts to scale up humanitarian response, which will include efforts on delivering minimum multi-sectoral package of services to strengthen integrated response. This will aim at increasing the positive impact of humanitarian response and coordination in service delivery.
- Scaling up Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA): MPCA and group transfers will help enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the response, addressing the diverse needs of conflict-affected households. The Cash Working Group (CWG) and Cluster Coordinators will work together to improve coordination, reduce duplication and strengthen referral pathways to ensure at risk individuals receive assistance in a timely and accountable manner.