Attachments
Key Gender Findings from the 2025 Sudan MSNA: Female-Headed Households (FHHs)
Overview
The Sudan Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) 2025 provides a coordinated, nationwide source of multi-sectoral data across all 18 states. It directly informs the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), guiding where, how, and to whom assistance should be prioritized. The MSNA plays a central role in defining the number of people in need and the severity of those needs by sector and geography. Its results are used by all humanitarian clusters, donors, and implementing agencies to ensure that limited resources are directed where they are most urgently required.
Within the 2025 Sudan MSNA sample published in October 2025, female-headed households (FHHs) constitute a significant share of households and consistently face greater vulnerability than male-headed households (MHHs) across displacement patterns, geographic concentration in conflict-affected areas, access to financial services, and sectoral outcomes related to water, education, and assistance coverage. These gendered disparities have direct implications for targeting, modality choice, and protection-sensitive humanitarian programming. The 2025 MSNA reflects close inter-agency collaboration, led by IOM’s DTM in partnership with OCHA, REACH, and the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG), under the technical oversight of the Assessment and Analysis Working Group (AAWG).