Humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Community of national artistic unity

Bujumbura burundi 

The project's focus is on alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Sudan by providing critical aid like food, healthcare, and shelter, while also addressing the root causes through advocacy for humanitarian access and protection of civilians. This work is vital because the conflict has caused famine, widespread displacement, and a collapse of essential services, affecting millions of people. 

Project focus

Providing essential aid:

Food: Distributing emergency food assistance to combat famine and severe hunger, and screening children for malnutrition.

Water and sanitation: Providing safe drinking water and improving sanitation to prevent waterborne diseases.

Healthcare: Delivering medical care5 including support for injured civilians and those with hronic diseases, and assisting with childbirth and post-natal care.

Shelter: Providing shelter for displaced people who have fled their homes due to conflict.

Protecting civilians:

Advocacy: Advocating for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, as parties to the conflict have deliberately obstructed aid delivery.

Human rights: Condemning grave violations of human rights against children, including killing, injury, and sexual violence, and calling for accountability.

Addressing the root causes:

Education: Providing educational support in refugee camps.

Documentation: Assisting refugees in obtaining essential identity documents to help them access services and rebuild their lives. 

The humanitarian crisis in Sudan

Scale: The crisis is considered the world's largest and fastest-growing humanitarian crisis, with nearly half the population in need of aid and millions facing famine.

Causes: The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, is the primary driver of the crisis, leading to immense displacement and destruction.

Consequences:

Displacement: Millions have been forced to flee their homes, creating one of the largest displacement crises in the world.

Hunger: Famine conditions are present in some areas, with millions more facing acute food insecurity.

Health: Access to healthcare has been severely limited due to the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, and shortages of medicine and staff.

Protection: Civilians, especially women and children, face grave risks, including gender-based violence and attacks on schools and hospitals. 

On 15 April, Sudan marks two years of devastating civil war. The conflict has triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis and a deepening humanitarian catastrophe that remains grossly underfunded and underreported.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 people have lost their lives. Over 14 million people have been forced from their homes – 11.3 million within Sudan and at least 3.5 million across borders, mainly into Chad, South Sudan, Egypt and beyond. And while the bombs still fall, hunger is tightening its grip. Famine is already gnawing at children in displacement camps, and almost half of the population – 24.6 million - are going hungry.

This is the bleakest, most devastating year yet for Sudan and its surrounding countries. Fighting and brutal attacks on civilians continue unchecked. From the Sahel to the Red Sea, the humanitarian emergency grows more dire by the day. Yet the international response remains dangerously inadequate.

Community of national artistic unity

BUJUMBURA 26/10/2026

Cuna 

comminutyof national 

sub ; REPORT 

Port Sudan, May 28, 2025 – More than 7,700 cases of cholera – including more than 1,000 in children under five – and 185 related deaths have been reported in Khartoum State since January 2025, according to health officials. UNICEF and partners are working with the Federal Ministry of Health to stem the spread of this deadly disease and save lives.

Essential services virtually nonexistent
Since the start of this brutal conflict, more than 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Khartoum State, and the violence has disrupted the lives of millions more. As some areas become accessible again, more than 34,000 people have returned to Khartoum State since the beginning of 2025. Most of them are returning to damaged homes in areas where essential services—including access to water and sanitation—are largely unavailable. It is estimated that more than one million children live in affected areas of Khartoum State.

Repeated attacks on power plants in Khartoum State over the past month have caused severe power outages and exacerbated water shortages, severely compromising access to safe, clean water. Many families are now forced to draw water from contaminated sources, increasing the risk of cholera and other deadly waterborne diseases, particularly in crowded neighborhoods and displacement sites. The number of cholera cases exploded, rising from 90 to 815 cases per day between May 15 and 25 – a ninefold increase in just ten days.

The Vicious Cycle of Cholera and Malnutrition
Furthermore, two of the state's seven localities – Jebel Aulia and Khartoum – are at risk of famine, accounting for 33% of the 307,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition in the state. An estimated 26,500 children are affected by severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the most deadly form of malnutrition. For children already weakened by a lack of nutritious food, cholera or any other cause of severe diarrhea can be fatal if not treated promptly.

“We are racing against time with our partners to provide basic healthcare, clean water, and adequate nutrition – among other vital services – to children who are particularly vulnerable to deadly diseases and severe acute malnutrition,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative in Sudan. “Every day, more and more children are exposed to the dual threat of cholera and malnutrition, but both are preventable and treatable if we can reach children in time.” »

UNICEF's Response
UNICEF is deploying a multisectoral response to cholera in Khartoum, targeting the most at-risk communities and supporting critical water infrastructure, including the provision of water treatment products (polymer and chlorine) and a 1,000 kilovolt-ampere generator to ensure continued operation of the Al Manara water treatment plant, which serves more than one million people in Karrari and Old Omdurman.

UNICEF and its partners are distributing water treatment products to households to curb community transmission, deploying water chlorination devices at several distribution points, and mobilizing rapid response teams to support water chlorination and conduct disinfection activities. UNICEF is also raising awareness among communities through community dialogues and social media to disseminate key messages on the causes, symptoms, and prevention of cholera.

Since the beginning of the year, UNICEF has delivered more than 1.6 million oral cholera vaccines to Sudan and is supporting vaccination campaigns in affected areas. UNICEF has provided cholera treatment kits and is supporting the deployment of frontline workers to cholera treatment centers. The organization is also supporting the training of public health workers in infection prevention and control, as well as training local community members to monitor the situation on the ground.

UNICEF continues to support the delivery of lifesaving nutrition services through 105 outpatient programs in health facilities and four stabilization centers in Khartoum State.

CUNA 

REPORT 

30/05/25