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For the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, the Protection Cluster employs a collective, consolidated protection cluster severity of need analysis that aims to reflect the diverse protection needs on the ground. The target and financial requirements are determined by the partners’ capacity to deliver, access constraints, and financial capacity.
SUMMARY OF PROTECTION NEEDS
Sudan’s conflict continued with systematic violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, causing widespread civilian casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and mass displacement. Indiscriminate attacks—including shelling, airstrikes, and the use of explosive weapons—devastated urban centers and collapsed essential services, leaving over 70% of health facilities non-functional. More than 50,834 civilian deaths were recorded since the eruption of the conflict in April 2023, including 18,884 deaths in 2025. Alongside catastrophic levels of grave violations against children, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals.
Prolonged sieges and repeated targeting of IDP sites deepened protection risks for women, children, elderly, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. Explosive ordnance contamination remains severe, with thousands of conflict-related explosions and confirmed use of anti-personnel mines, endangering civilians and hindering humanitarian access. An estimated 14 million people require mine action assistance. Persistent hostilities, impunity, and access constraints continue to expose civilians to grave harm, with humanitarian needs expected to worsen in 2026.
Conflict in Sudan has created an environment conducive to gender-based violence (GBV), disproportionately affecting women and girls, but also affecting men and boys although less data is available considering the stigma around these serious violations.
Widespread sexual violence, intimate partner abuse, child marriage, and exploitation occur also in displacement sites, in host communities, and along transit routes. Survivors face severe stigma, fear of retaliation, in addition to limited access to services such as medical care, psychosocial support, or legal services, particularly in remote or frontline areas.
Children face acute protection risks amid mass displacement and service collapse. Over 12 million require assistance, with high rates of psychosocial distress, family separation, and exposure to violence. Education is severely disrupted—one-third of school-aged children are out of school, with rates exceeding 70% in Darfur and Kordofan. Hazardous child labor affects 34% of households, while 60% report no access to child protection services. These reported violations leave children vulnerable to trauma, exploitation, and long-term harm, eroding their safety and development.
Since the outbreak of hostilities, Sudan has witnessed unprecedented levels of internal displacement. Within the first nine months of the conflict, by December 2023, the internally displaced population reached approximately 9.05 million, of which around 6 million were displaced after April 2023, while Sudan was already hosting 3 million IDPs, primarily from Darfur.
The displacement crisis peaked in January 2025, with 11,585,384 IDPs recorded across all 18 states—a 13% increase compared to April 2024 (9.9 million IDPs). Since then, the number of IDPs has decreased by 19%, largely due to return movements across 12 states. As of 31 October 2025, DTM reported an estimated 9,338,999 IDPs and 3,027,446 returnees across Sudan.
The majority of IDPs (61%) remain concentrated in the Darfur region, particularly in South Darfur (1,782,119 IDPs), North Darfur (1,768,969 IDPs), and Central Darfur (979,150 IDPs).
Sudan’s conflict has destroyed, housing and land records, and created severe tenure insecurity. Families shelter in informal sites or public buildings without agreements, facing high eviction risk and limited legal aid. Rising rents and exploitative tenancy deepen vulnerability, forcing debt and secondary displacement. Loss of civil status documentation and cadastral records and weakened dispute resolution systems fuel land grabbing adding to previously unresolved conflicts, while women face systemic barriers to access their Housing, land and property (HLP) rights. Spontaneous returns confirm the large scale home destruction or occupation, with explosive contamination compounding physical security. Climate shocks like effects of flooding or draught further intensify pre-existing conflicts. Without secure tenure or documentation, displaced households remain at risk of eviction and exclusion from recovery opportunities.