Two leading United Nations agencies are warning that more than a million Sudanese refugees in Chad face immediate and life-threatening cuts to food, water, shelter, protection, and health care as the conflict in neighboring Sudan approaches the three-year mark. Earlier this week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that they will drastically scale back essential assistance to refugees in Chad unless the US$428 million funding gap is filled.
As of April, Chad is hosting more than 1.5 million refugees, making it one of the largest host countries for refugees worldwide. Driven by the crisis in Sudan, this number includes over 1.3 million Sudanese refugees, over 900,000 of whom arrived since the war began in 2023. Additionally, approximately 225,000 Chadians have been internally displaced and require humanitarian assistance as well.
In Chad, one in thirteen people is a refugee, and in the eastern part of the country, it is one in three. Throughout the war in Sudan, the Chad government has kept its borders open to refugees, and host communities continue to receive new arrivals. Nearly 15,000 people have arrived since January 2026 alone, despite the immense strain on resources.
“What we are seeing in eastern Chad is the human cost of funding shortfalls. We ended 2025 with only around one-third of the resources needed to fully respond to the refugee emergency in the east,” said Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR Representative in Chad, in a statement on Thursday.
“Given how dire the situation already is, without urgent support from donors, this year will bring deeper cuts, worse conditions and even greater suffering for families who have already fled war.”
Current resources allow UNHCR to provide basic assistance to only four out of ten refugees, leaving many with limited access to shelter, water, and basic healthcare. Conditions in settlements remain critical.
Due to funding shortfalls, some 80,000 families are currently without shelter, and in some locations, such as Oure Cassoni in Ennedi Est Province, refugees are surviving on less than half the minimum amount of water needed each day.
UNHCR reports that health centers are overwhelmed, critical protection services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence are being reduced, and educational services are overburdened, with most classrooms holding over 100 children per teacher.
Meanwhile, more than 243,000 people remain in eastern border areas due to insufficient funding to relocate them to settlements further inland. Here, families are forced to sleep in the open or in rudimentary shelters, where disease, insecurity, and harsh weather pose constant threats.
WFP is also impacted by the lack of funds, having received less than half of the resources it needs. The UN agency currently provides food assistance to over a million people in refugee-hosting areas, but has already been forced to cut this support in half for the majority of refugees.
According to WFP, women and young children are feeling the impact first and hardest, and nutrition support for new arrivals is under pressure.
“WFP remains committed to fighting food insecurity in Chad in both the short and long term. But with less than half the resources we require, we cannot deliver sufficient food to the people who need it most,” Sarah Gordon-Gibson, WFP Chad Country Director, said on Thursday.
“This will force them into devastating coping strategies and put lives at risk.”
UNHCR and WFP are urgently calling on donors to mobilize funding for the next six months to sustain humanitarian assistance for Sudanese refugees in Chad.
Chad is on the front line of the crisis in Sudan
On April 15, 2023, intense fighting broke out in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The violence quickly spread across Sudan, killing and injuring tens of thousands and forcing millions from their homes. This has resulted in the world's largest humanitarian emergency, with widespread displacement and hunger.
The scale of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan is unprecedented. An estimated 33.7 million people — nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population — are currently in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Among those in dire need are over 20 million children.
The conflict, which began as a power struggle between the SAF and the RSF, has resulted in the collapse of healthcare, food systems, and civilian protection nationwide, as well as in countries hosting refugees.
Sudan is facing an unprecedented hunger crisis. Nearly three years into the war, the country continues to slide into famine, which is characterized by widespread hunger and a significant surge in acute malnutrition. Sudan is the only country in the world where famine has been confirmed in multiple areas and continues to spread.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, over 19 million people in Sudan are currently experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse).
The rapid deterioration of food security has left approximately 146,000 people in catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5). More than 4.9 million people are estimated to be experiencing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4).
Despite the return of approximately 4 million people to their communities since last year, more than 14 million remain displaced due to ongoing warfare. Sudan remains the country with the world's largest displacement crisis.
While the overall number of displaced people within Sudan has fallen, it is estimated that nearly 9 million remain displaced within the country's borders, amid continued returns to Khartoum and the eastern states.
Humanitarian organizations warn that families displaced by the war in Sudan are facing extreme hunger, repeated displacement, and the total loss of their livelihoods. Many families have been displaced multiple times, which has compounded their losses and exacerbated their exhaustion.
To date, nearly 5 million people have fled to neighboring countries due to the ongoing war or earlier conflict, and they are in urgent need of support. The Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) requires $1.6 billion in funding this year to support refugees and host communities in neighboring countries.
Currently, the total RRP is only 10 percent funded; for Chad, it is an even more dismal 9 percent.