Sudan Six months of conflict - Key Facts and Figures (19 October 2023)

Six months after fighting erupted, Sudan is facing one of the fastest unfolding crises globally, with unprecedented needs in such a short period. Close to 5.7 million people – about one in every nine people in the country - have fled their homes since the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started in mid - April. They have sought refuge within Sudan or in neighbouring countries.

Over 4.5 million displaced within Sudan and 1.1 million crossed the borders

According to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOM DTM), about 4.57 million people have been displaced by fighting within Sudan and have sought refuge in 4,658 locations across all 18 states. The displaced are from eight states, with the majority - about 3.1 million people (69 per cent of all internally displaced) - originally from Khartoum. Most have sought refuge in River Nile followed by South Darfur, East Darfur, Aj Jazirah, Northern, and North Darfur states. About 1.1 million people have crossed into the neighbouring Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan as of 8 October, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Over 7 million people hungry

This devastating conflict – coupled with acute food insecurity, disease outbreaks, civilian displacement, and destruction of livelihoods – threatens to consume the entire country. About 15 million people – 31 per cent of the population – are acutely food insecure between October 2023 and February 2024. This is almost double the 7.7 million people who were acutely food insecure between October 2022 and February 2023. This implies that the conflict and other aggravating factors have made an additional 7.3 million acutely food insecure.

Disease outbreaks, including cholera

Insecurity, displacement, limited access to medicines, medical supplies, electricity, and water continue to pose enormous challenges to delivering health care across the country. At least 1,457 suspected cases of cholera, including 64 deaths, have been reported from Gedaref, South Kordofan and Khartoum states as of 17 October, according to the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Other disease outbreaks are ongoing in several states, with 12 states reporting 4,123 measles cases and 107 deaths; 12 states reporting 736,500 malaria cases and 22 associated deaths; and six states reporting 4,100 cases of dengue with associated deaths.

19 million children out of school

The conflict has deprived about 12 million children of schooling since April, with the total number of children in Sudan who are out of school reaching 19 million, Save the Children (SC) and the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) reported. Of this total, 6.5 million children—or 1 in every 3 children in the country—have lost access to school due to increased violence and insecurity, with at least 10,400 schools now closed in conflict - affected areas. Meanwhile, over 5.5 million children who reside in areas less affected by war are waiting for local authorities to confirm whether classrooms can be re-opened. Before April, nearly 7 million children were already out of school. If the war continues, no child in Sudan can return to school in the coming months, exposing them to immediate and long-term dangers, including displacement, recruitment into armed groups and sexual violence. Sudan is on the brink of becoming home to the worst education crisis in the world,” according to UNICEF.

Livelihoods decimated, economy to shrink by 12 per cent in 2023

The conflict is devastating the livelihoods of millions of people in Sudan. According to the World Bank, the economy is expected to contract by 12 per cent in 2023 because the conflict has halted production and destroyed human capital and state capacity. The growth forecast for Sudan has been revised downward by 12.5 percentage points as the armed conflict has damaged the country’s industrial base and education and health facilities. It has also led to a collapse in economic activity — including commerce, financial, and information and communications technology services—and the erosion of state capacity, with detrimental impacts on food security and forced displacement. For comparison, the economies of Yemen and Syria have shrunk by about 50 per cent over the past decade, or about 5 per cent per year on average. The pace of economic contraction in Sudan seems to have doubled that.