Attachments
1.0 BACKGROUND
After one year of conflict, Sudan is facing one of the worst humanitarian tragedies ever recorded. Since the fighting began, ACLED has reported more than 14,790 fatalities across the country, while at the end of January, the Federal Ministry of Health reported that about 27,700 people have been injured. Moreover, there are concrete concerns that these numbers might be severely underestimated.
According to the United Nations (UN), nearly 25 million people - half of Sudan’s population - are in need of assistance. The country is now home to the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 8.2 million people newly displaced both inside (6.5 million) and outside (1.76 million) the country, in addition to over 3 million displaced by previous conflicts. Moreover, with close to 4 million children displaced, Sudan is facing the largest child displacement crisis in the world.2 At the same time, FAO is warning about the dire situation of over 18 million Sudanese people, around 37% of the population, who are facing acute food insecurity.
The health system is on the brink of collapse: WHO reports that 11 million people are in need of urgent healthcare4 and between 70 to 80% of health facilities are not functioning due to the ongoing conflict.
The disease surveillance system has also been disrupted, posing a serious challenge to detecting and confirming infectious disease outbreaks. Meanwhile, suspected cases of cholera are increasing less quickly, but with around 11,000 suspected cases - including 305 associated deaths reported as of 25 March 2024 - the situation remains critical. The crisis in Sudan is also facing severe underfunding: in 2023, less than 50% of the UN Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) was funded; and even in 2024 the HRP is far from being fully funded. Due to the current situation, the complexity of the challenges, and the worrisome shrinking of the humanitarian space, Sudan is quickly becoming a humanitarian desert.