Attachments
Introduction
Almost two years of civil war have left Sudan in a dire situation, facing the largest humanitarian crisis ever recorded with more than 30 million people in need of assistance. Twenty-five million people face acute food insecurity. Famine has been declared in at least five areas and is projected to spread to five more by May 2025, and the healthcare system is at breaking point.3 Civilians face horrific violence and human rights abuses. In Darfur, human rights groups have accused armed groups of ethnic cleansing, and in January 2025 the US determined that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces and its allied militias had committed genocide. Women and girls are exposed to heightened risks as cases of conflict-related sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse are alarmingly widespread.
An estimated 11.5 million people have been forcibly displaced within Sudan, making it the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. Over half of the displaced population are children. In Gedaref alone, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has tripled over the past year, and over 1 million people are now seeking refuge across the state. For many, this represents their second or third displacement since the beginning of the war, after having fled Khartoum and Al Jazirah. Community members have demonstrated extraordinary solidarity in opening their homes and sharing what little resources they have available to support those others in need. Meanwhile, humanitarian efforts are struggling to meet growing needs due to severe underfunding and major access constraints, leaving millions without adequate support.
People in Gedaref told us that they want the international community to prioritise the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid and to help push for an end to the war. They called for support in order to return to their homes and to start rebuilding their lives. For people in Gedaref, peace and stability are the first steps towards reclaiming their futures. “The world can stand with us to stop the war” urged a displaced woman in Al Qureisha. A displaced man in Madeinet al Gedaref told us, “Wars have destroyed generations. No one is victorious, but the citizens are the losers.”
Scope
In September 2024, Ground Truth Solutions (GTS), in partnership with DataQ, began a project to explore what the humanitarian situation looks like from the perspective of people in Sudan. We selected two states as the focus of the study: Gedaref and South Darfur. We selected these states because at the time of data collection they hosted the largest numbers of IDPs displaced after the outbreak of the civil war in April 2023, excluding the inaccessible North Darfur. As case studies they also represent one state from the Sudanese Armed Forces-controlled east, and one state from the Rapid Support Forces-controlled west. This report contains insights from 428 people in Gedaref state, provided in November 2024 via a face-to-face survey questionnaire.