UN Agencies Brief on Sudan Crisis: Displacement, Humanitarian Needs, and Aid Challenges

Sudan's Escalating Humanitarian Crisis

• 🌍 Sudan is experiencing the world's worst displacement crisis, now in its third year of war, with over 30 million people needing humanitarian assistance.
• 📌 9.6 million people are internally displaced, and 4.3 million have fled across borders into neighboring countries.
• ⚠️ The crisis is exacerbated by food insecurity, disease outbreaks, flooding, human rights violations, and the near collapse of essential services.

Impact on Children and Protection Risks

• 💔 Children are bearing the highest price of the conflict, with soaring rates of severe acute malnutrition and widespread disease outbreaks like cholera and malaria.
• 👧 Protection risks for women and girls are critical, with rape used as a weapon of war and severe trauma from human rights violations.
• 📚 An estimated 14 million children, or four out of every five, are out of school, risking an entire generation lost without learning.

Displacement and Returnee Challenges

• 🏠 Over 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes since April 2023, with many displaced multiple times.
• 🏘️ While 2.6 million people have returned home, they face significant challenges, including lack of basic services, security concerns, and the need for infrastructure rehabilitation.
• 🤝 Host communities, who have shown generosity, are facing growing hardships themselves, putting strain on existing resources.

Humanitarian Access and Funding Gaps

• 🚧 Humanitarian access remains a critical issue, with convoys to areas like Al Fashir facing severe constraints and delays.
• 💰 The humanitarian response plan is significantly underfunded, with only a quarter of the required funds received, leaving millions without essential aid.
• 🆘 The refugee response plan is also critically underfunded at 21%, despite neighboring countries hosting millions of Sudanese refugees.

Calls to Action and Resilience

• 🕊️ A call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, protection of civilians, and unhindered humanitarian access is paramount.
• 🤝 There is a critical need for development actors to invest in rehabilitation and reconstruction to restore basic services and enable people to rebuild their lives with dignity.
• 🌱 The resilience of the Sudanese people is evident, with communities repairing schools and shops reopening, but this requires sustained support and a political solution.
• 🌍 International actors are urged to support UN reform agendas and provide urgent, flexible, and predictable funding to scale up life-saving interventions.