Sudan Crisis

Sudan Map
Source: OCHA/ReliefWeb

The country

Sudan, gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1956, is a state in Northeast Africa with access to the Red Sea.  The country shares land borders with Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. Its capital is Khartoum. Sudan covers an area of 1,861,484 square kilometers. As of 2025, the country has an estimated population of around 47.5 million people.

The humanitarian situation

The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. On April 15, 2023, conflict broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, causing widespread displacement, hunger, and the world's largest humanitarian crisis. After two years of conflict, about 13 million people have been displaced as a result of the ongoing war. The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance now stands at 30.4 million people - two-thirds of Sudan's population.

The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Sudan hardly receives the international political and media attention it deserves. The United Nations have warned that hunger, disease and displacement threaten to destroy Sudan as war spreads throughout the country, fueling a humanitarian emergency of ā€œepic proportionsā€. A protracted conflict in Sudan could tip the entire region into a humanitarian catastrophe.

April 15, 2025, marked the second anniversary of the horrific war in Sudan, which has created not only the world's largest humanitarian crisis, but also the world's largest hunger crisis, with famine spreading, and the world's largest displacement crisis. The ongoing conflict has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives.

Civilians are bearing the brunt of the fighting, which has spread across Sudan. The conflict between Sudanā€™s military headed up by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo erupted after months of rising tensions over the country's political future and the RSF's planned integration into the national army.

The violence that exploded between the warring parties has destroyed much of the essential infrastructure in the capital, Khartoum, pushing health and financial systems to near collapse, leaving people without access to money or essential goods. Fierce fighting also continues in the western region of Darfur. The clashes prevent people from accessing food, water, fuel, and medical care for their families. The ongoing fighting in Sudan is having a devastating impact on Sudanese civilians. Many people are in urgent need of medical and other humanitarian assistance.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 15 million people need urgent health assistance to survive. Less than 25 percent of health facilities are functioning in the Sudanese states most affected by the war, and only 45 percent of such facilities are fully functional in other states. Hospitals that remain fully or partially functional risk closing for lack of medical staff, supplies, water and electricity. 

Attacks on health care continue to be reported across the country.  Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, WHO has verified 135 attacks on health care - including on health facilities, ambulances and transport, assets, patients and health workers - resulting in 318 deaths and 270 injuries (as of April 2025). The real numbers of attacks on health care are estimated too be much higher.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that 6.7 million people are at risk of gender-based violence (GBV) and 3.5 million women and girls of reproductive age need reproductive health care services.

Humanitarian needs in Sudan were already at record levels before the situation deteriorated, with some 15.8 million people requiring humanitarian assistance at the beginning of 2023. The growing needs in Sudan were driven by political instability following the military takeover on October 25, 2021, a socioeconomic crisis, insecurity and violence, displacements, floods, drought and disease outbreaks.

Disease outbreaks worsen and spread. As of December 2024, cholera had spread to 11 of Sudanā€™s 18 states, including major cities and areas where conflict continues, with over 47,000 suspected and confirmed cases and 1,235 deaths. Other diseases have broken out in several states, including malaria, measles and dengue fever.

In 2025, more than two-thirds of Sudan's population - 30.4 million people - are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Those in need include more than 16 million children. The 2025 humanitarian and refugee response plans for Sudan, appeal for a combined US$6 billion to support nearly 26 million people inside the country and in the wider region.

Before the severe fighting erupted, Sudan hosted about 1.2 million refugees, one of the largest refugee populations in Africa. South Sudanese represented more than 70 percent of the refugees (758,000) in Sudan, followed by 135,000 Eritrean refugees (11 percent) and 131,000 refugees from Ethiopia (11 percent). Some 3.8 million Sudanese were internally displaced, mostly in the Darfur region that has experienced a volatile security situation since 2003. 

As of April 2025, more than 11.5 million women, men and children are internally displaced, including 2.8 million who had been displaced before April 2023, making Sudan the world's largest internal displacement crisis. At least 500,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries before the escalation of the conflict. The total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at more than 4.5 million. Overall, around 16 million people are currently displaced by conflict in Sudan. This makes Sudan by far the largest displacement crisis in the world.

Sudan is also experiencing an unprecedented hunger crisis. More than two years into the war, the country continues to slide into a widening famine characterized by widespread hunger and a significant surge in acute malnutrition. In December 2024, the IPC Famine Review Committee (FRC) identified famine in at least five areas, four months after famine was first confirmed in the Zamzam camp for displaced people in Sudan's North Darfur State.

The FRC forecasts that five more areas will face famine between December 2024 and May 2025. A further 17 areas are at risk of famine. In addition, regions of intense conflict, including parts of Khartoum and Al Jazirah states, may already be experiencing famine conditions (IPC Phase 5). 

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase (IPC) analysis, more than 24.6 million people across Sudan are now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse.). The rapid deterioration of food security in Sudan has left 638,000 people in catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5). 8.1 million people are estimated to be in emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4).

The worst conditions are in the areas most affected by the fighting and where conflict-displaced people are concentrated. The situation is particularly dire for those trapped in conflict zones, including in Al Jazirah, North Darfur and Khartoum states, and in the Kordofan region.

Before the situation deteriorated, a quarter of Sudan's population - 11.7 million people - were severely food insecure. Over 3 million children under 5 suffered from acute malnutrition in the country, with an estimated 650,000 children under 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

Insecurity, access restrictions and scarce funding are limiting the ability of aid agencies to respond to humanitarian needs in Sudan. Without a cessation of fighting and unimpeded humanitarian access, the crisis is expected to worsen dramatically in the coming months and could destabilize the entire region. Neighboring countries have already experienced large influxes of refugees from Sudan.

The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) seeks US$4.2 billion to address the most urgent and critical needs of nearly 21 million of those most vulnerable inside the country. This is the highest number of people in any UN coordinated plan this year. Funding remains woefully inadequate. As of April 15, 2025, the HNRP was only 10 percent covered by funding.

In the first quarter of 2025, humanitarian organizations reached 8.6 million people in Sudan with at least one form of humanitarian assistance, with a target of 20.9 million people for the entire year. 

The 2025 Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) seeks $1.8 billion to support 4.8 million people, including refugees, returnees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda. As of April, only 11 percent has been raised for the RRP. 

The Regional Refugee Response Plan will prioritize the provision of life-saving assistance and protection, including emergency shelter, relocation from border areas to safer locations, psychosocial support, clean water, health care and education. The plan also aims to help host countries strengthen national services and implement programs that contribute to stability.

In 2024, the United Nations and its humanitarian partner organizations called for US$4.1 billion to help millions of people in the country and hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries.  As the death toll mounted, humanitarian needs soared, and displacement grew, the UN launched response plans to provide food, health care, shelter, protection and other critical assistance.

Despite severe funding shortfalls and humanitarian access constraints, aid agencies reached more than 15.6 million people across Sudan in 2024. Humanitarian organizations working in neighboring countries provided life-saving assistance, delivering food to more than one million people, medical assistance to half a million, and protection services to more than 800,000.

To provide humanitarian assistance inside Sudan, the UN and partners asked for $2.7 billion to help 14.7 million people in 2024, according to the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). For those who have fled the country, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had requested an additional $1.4 billion last year to support displaced people in five countries bordering Sudan, according to the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP).

As of March 2025, the 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 68 percent funded, while only 31 percent has been raised for the Regional Refugee Response Plan. 

The revised 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan called for 2.6 billion US Dollar to provide lifesaving assistance to an estimated 18.1 million people by the end of the year. As of December, the HRP was only 39 percent funded.  Nevertheless, between April and December 2023, humanitarian agencies reached at least 8.1 million people with humanitarian assistance inside the country.

In August 2023, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) had revised its regional response, extending the original six-month plan through the end of the year. The 2023 Sudan Emergency Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) asked for 1 billion US Dollar to provide essential aid and protection to people fleeing to five neighboring countries. As of December, only 7 percent for the Regional Refugee Response Plan had been raised.

In 2022, the United Nations had appealed for 1.94 billion US Dollar in funding for the Sudan crisis. As of December 2022, only 837 million US Dollar had been received from donors (43 percent coverage). 

Sudan LocationThe security situation

In April 2019, a civilian uprising grew out of protests against high prices for bread, fuel shortages, and other economic issues. On April 11, the Sudanese military overthrew long-term President Omar al-Bashir in support of a popular revolution, and subsequent political uncertainty contributed to heightened humanitarian security and protection concerns. In August 2019, a signed constitutional declaration laid out arrangements for a civilian-led transitional government for a 39-month period, with Abdalla Hamdouk appointed as Prime Minister.

However, on October 25, 2021, the military took over the government and arrested the civilian leadership. On November 21, Hamdouk was reinstated as prime minister in a power-sharing agreement with military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, but resigned on January 2, 2022. Due to the military coup and the de facto suspension of the transition to civilian rule, Sudan remained in a political stalemate.

The October 2021 military takeover derailed Sudanā€™s democratic transition and also upended the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement between the transitional government and armed groups in the country. The ensuing and escalating violence, particularly in the Darfur region, displaced more than 700,000 Sudanese in 2021. 2022 witnessed an increase in the number and intensity of violent incidents throughout Sudan. As of December 2022, 300,000 people were freshly displaced due to conflict.

On December 5, 2022, more than fifty Sudanese political forces, civil society groups and the current military leaders signed a power-sharing deal that raised hopes of ending violent clashes between security forces and protesters. The agreement called for immediate security and military reforms which include combining all militias, including the Sudan paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), into one unified army. 

The agreement also stressed the need to resolve issues regarding transitional justice in the country. Officials from the United Nations, African Union and European Union congratulated the Sudanese parties for reaching the agreement and urged them to engage in genuine dialogue to complete the remaining tasks that would lead to the formation of a transitional government.

On April 15, 2023, fierce fighting between Sudan's armed forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces erupted in the capital and other areas outside Khartoum, shattering hopes for a transition to democracy and stoking fears of a wider conflict. The clashes soon spread across Sudan. Since fighting broke out more than two years ago, at least tens of thousands have been killed, and tens of thousands others injured.

But the real death toll is likely to be much higher. According to a study by the Sudan Research Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, more than 60,000 people have died in Khartoum State alone, where fighting began in 2023. Many more people have died elsewhere in the country, particularly in the western region of Darfur, where numerous accounts of atrocities and ethnic cleansing have been reported.

A UN report says that up to 15,000 people have been killed in ethnic motivated violence in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, between April and June 2023. An estimated death toll between 10,000 and 15,000 men, women, and children in El Geneina was attributed to intelligence sources.

A retrospective mortality survey carried out for the region of El Geneina by the humanitarian organization MĆ©decins Sans FrontiĆØres (MSF) indicates that the mortality rate increased twenty-fold from April onwards, reaching 2.25 deaths per 10,000 people per day in June. The majority of deaths took place in El Geneina; with 83 percent of casualties being men.

Since the beginning of the clashes between the two warring factions, more than 13.1 million people had been displaced. With some 400,000 people returning to their places of origin in Al Jazirah, Sennar, and Khartoum states since December 2024, the total number of displaced people has dropped slightly to about 12.8 million for the first time since the war began. However, the situation remains highly volatile.

While more than 8.8 million people - Sudanese and refugees already living in the country - are currently displaced within Sudan due to the war, more than 4 million women, men and children have sought refuge in other countries.  The majority of the internally displaced - 55 percent - are children under the age of 18. In total, more than 25 percent of Sudan's population has fled their homes, either internally or across borders, due to the ongoing war.

Most Sudanese seek refuge in the seven countries bordering the northeastern African nation, including Egypt, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Libya and the Central African Republic. Egypt hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees at 1.5 million, followed by South Sudan with more than 1 million - many of them South Sudanese returning after many years. Chad has seen the largest influx of refugees in its history, with some 775,000 people seeking refuge out of more than 1 million who have crossed the border.

The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces is being waged with a new level of violence and brutality against civilians, especially in the states of Darfur. In particular, the RSF is accused of mass killings and rape as a means of war. Both parties to the conflict have been accused of serious war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Thousands are ethnically targeted, killed, injured, abused, and exploited, forcing more and more people to flee the violence. Gender-based violence (GBV), including sexual violence, is used as a tool of war and no longer concentrated in Khartoum or Darfur, but has spread to other parts of the country, such as Kordofan or the states of Sennar and Al-Jazirah.

More than two years into the conflict, heavy fighting between the SAF and RSF continues at the same pace, with no sign of a possible resolution of the conflict or a successful ceasefire after numerous failed attempts. Reports indicate a deterioration of the situation and continuation of deadly attacks across Khartoum, Darfur, Al-Jazira, the three Kordofan states and Blue Nile state. Agreeing and adhering to a ceasefire would be crucial to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the millions in need.

In the Darfur region, civilians continue to be attacked and killed because of their skin color and ethnicity. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, face an increasingly catastrophic humanitarian situation. Heavy fighting broke out in El Fasher between the SAF and RSF in early May 2024, and in recent months there have been intense clashes in and around the town, including deliberate attacks on civilians, the burning of residential areas, and indiscriminate bombing and shelling.

The RSF, who have been besieging and shelling the town of El Fasher for the past twelve months, have intensified their offensive in recent weeks, also launching attacks against Zamzam camp. Zamzam was Sudan's largest camp for internally displaced people, hosting more than 500,000 women, children and men before the most recent attacks, and one of three displacement sites in the El Fasher region where famine conditions have been found. 

In April 2025, large-scale atrocities involving hundreds of civilian deaths and mass displacement was reported from the Zamzam displacement camp, following reports hat armed groups affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces attacked Zamzam and took control of the camp. About 400,000-500,000 people are estimated to have fled Zamzam seeking safety in El Fasher and the towns of Dar As Salam and Tawila, with additional reports of displaced people arriving in Central Darfur State. Humanitarian agencies on the ground say that Zamzam camp is nearly empty, with almost all of its several hundred thousand inhabitants having fled to other locations.

The Famine Review Committee (FRC) of the IPC had concluded that famine conditions are prevalent in parts of North Darfur, including the Zamzam camp south of El Fasher, Abu Shouk, and Al Salam camps and the Western Nuba Mountains for both residents and IDPs.

Since October 2024, the situation in the country has been marked by some of the most extreme violence since the start of the conflict, with large numbers of civilians killed and even more losing their homes and forced to flee in a wave of attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in eastern Al Jazira State. Women and girls have been raped, markets looted and homes and farms burned. Fighting continues in El Fasher, Khartoum, Kordofan and other areas, where civilians are being subjected to appalling suffering.

The war in Sudan is the culmination of months of tensions between the military and the rival paramilitary group, and a result of disagreements over the integration of the RSF into Sudan's armed forces. The tensions had also delayed an agreement with political parties to return the country to its short-lived transition to democracy. The appointment of a civilian transitional government had been expected in April 2023.

Fighting has intensified in many parts of the country in recent weeks. The lives of millions of people in Sudan are at risk as the world looks away from the enormous humanitarian needs facing the war-torn country. On April 15, 2025, Sudan marked two years of war that has created the world's largest human-made catatstrophe.

Donations

Your donation for the Sudan emergency can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

You may also consider making an unearmarked donation or a broader earmarked donation to humanitarian organizations active in Sudan.

To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.

Further information

Last updated: 28/04/2025

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