Sudan: Aid for Displaced People Falls Far Short of Needs as Funding Dries Up

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warn that serious funding shortfalls have depleted stocks of emergency shelter and basic household goods in Sudan, the African country where war has raged for more than three and a half years. Without urgent flexible funding, more families will face the coming months without adequate protection from extreme weather, insecurity, violence and exploitation.

The funding gap

According to the joint statement, the UN Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires $2.9 billion (€2.62 billion) to deliver life-saving aid to 20.4 million people. So far, 47% of that sum has been raised. In total, 33.7 million people need humanitarian assistance, and 15.4 million of them require emergency shelter and household items. Aid groups have reached only 10% of them.

The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has made Sudan the site of the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. About 8.6 million people have fled within the country and more than 4.6 million to neighboring states, while 5.2 million have returned to their home regions, where towns and infrastructure lie destroyed. Estimates of the dead range from 40,000 to 250,000, with no reliable figures available.

Donors scale back

Marina Peter, chairwoman of the Sudan and South Sudan Forum in Germany, says large parts of the country have been cut off from aid since the war began, and some people have survived by eating roots. She links returns to war zones partly to sharp cuts in food rations in refugee camps. Ivo Körner of Caritas International says the United States, Germany and the European Union are all giving significantly less than four or five years ago.

Famine warnings and drones

In October, the United Kingdom and 31 other partners urged the warring parties to allow unimpeded aid access. They said 19.5 million people, about 41% of the population, face acute food insecurity. The Khartoum-based government, led by General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, rejects the famine warnings.

On November 5, the Peace for Sudan Platform called for an end to attacks on civilians. At least 306 people were killed in attacks in the first three weeks of October, and the UN Human Rights Office reports that drones killed at least 1,120 civilians in the first half of 2026.