The international humanitarian organization Save the Children is warning that "time is running out" for the nearly one million residents of Sudan's largest camp for displaced people, many of them children, as food and medical supplies run out. The relief agency said Wednesday that it had just two days' worth of medical supplies left in its mobile health clinics in Zamzam camp in Sudan's western Darfur region.
While Save the Children has a significant stockpile of medicines, chlorine water treatment materials and other medical equipment in a warehouse in Tawila, about 60 km - 37 miles - west of the Zamzam camp, insecurity and road closures are likely to hamper efforts to get these supplies into the camp.
“For several months now, our staff in the camp have observed children with visible signs of severe acute malnutrition, chest infections, skin diseases, and clear evidence of widespread diarrhea,” Mohamed Abdiladif, Save the Children's Sudan Country Director, said in a statement.
“We continue to do whatever it takes to help communities, but our efforts have consistently been hampered by crippling stock out of essential medicines and therapeutic foods and lack of flexible funding.”
The warning about essential supplies at Zamzam camp in North Darfur state comes after families and children have been living in famine conditions for seven months, with crippling food shortages and a lack of essential services.
Save the Children said that heavy shelling and escalating violence in recent weeks have put children at increased risk and further complicated efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance, with access to the camp now almost impossible, the aid agency said.
Some humanitarian agencies - including the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) - have temporarily suspended their operations in Zamzam camp due to armed activity on the roads leading to the camp and the ongoing siege of the state capital, El Fasher.
Even before the recent escalation in violence and the destruction of the camp's main market, displaced families were facing extreme food shortages and resorting to desperate measures to survive, including the consumption of animal fodder. Stocks of essential medicines and therapeutic food were already exhausted, leading to alarming levels of malnutrition.
February saw intense fighting across the country, exacerbating the already catastrophic humanitarian situation. Active fighting, bureaucratic obstacles and travel restrictions continue to hamper the ability of aid agencies to reach populations in desperate need.
Growing funding gap for massive humanitarian needs
Meanwhile, the funding gap to meet Sudan's massive humanitarian needs is worsening at a time when humanitarian needs are at their highest. In 2024, only 67.5 percent of humanitarian pledges were met, leaving millions of people without access to critical, life-saving assistance.
Recent suspensions and terminations of assistance from the United States government, which has been responsible for nearly half of the humanitarian response in Sudan, further exacerbate the funding gap. As of today, the Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan, which calls for US$4.16 billion to address the multiple needs of the civilian population, is only 6.5 percent funded.
On Wednesday, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) called on international donors from around the world to seize the moment and urgently release humanitarian response funds before the start of the rainy season in May/June to support millions of people in Sudan in need of urgent humanitarian aid.
With 30.4 million people - two-thirds of Sudan's population - in need of humanitarian assistance inside the country as a result of the war, the situation has become the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Sudan is also the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 11.9 million people internally displaced and more than 4.5 million people having fled across borders.
“Almost two years since the start of the conflict in Sudan, the impacts on the civilian population are catastrophic. Millions of people — including mothers and young children — are unable to meet their daily food needs, and their weakened bodies struggle to fight off diseases,” said Eatizaz Yousef, IRC Sudan Country Director, in a statement.
The IRC is calling for an urgent and coordinated disbursement of funds for the humanitarian response in Sudan.
“The approaching rainy season will only worsen the crisis, making it even more difficult to deliver life-saving assistance to communities that are already on the brink. Without immediate action, we will see famine expand its hold over more parts of Sudan,” Yousef said.
“The international community must step up now—before it is too late—to release the necessary funds, scale-up critical aid operations, and save lives. “
In a separate statement on Wednesday, the humanitarian organization CARE warned that as funding dwindles, life-saving programs - such as community kitchens feeding displaced children - are shutting down, pushing already vulnerable families deeper into hunger and despair.
CARE said access to food has become almost impossible in many parts of Sudan. Families in displacement camps rely on humanitarian aid to survive, but critical programs are being forced to close as funding shrinks due to aid cuts.
“We are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold,” said Abdi Rahman Ali, CARE Sudan Country Director.
“The scale of suffering is unimaginable. Millions face starvation, disease, and violence, as the critical humanitarian aid lifeline is severed at the very moment it’s most needed. The world cannot turn a blind eye as Sudan descends into utter further despair.”
However, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not the only ones loudly raising their voices.
On Monday, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, expressed deep concern about the sweeping funding cuts and suspensions recently announced by major donors.
“Key donors recently announced sweeping funding reductions and suspensions, cutting off significant support to humanitarian organizations working to reach about 21 million people in desperate need in Sudan this year,” said Nkweta-Salami, referring to dramatic aid cuts by the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, without naming the donors.
“The reductions come at a time when the needs in Sudan have never been greater, with more than half of the population hungry and famine spreading,” she added.
The Humanitarian Coordinator urged “other governments, donors, foundations, charities, faith-based networks, the private sector and individuals to urgently step up to help fill the gaps left by these devastating reductions.”
Humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scale in Sudan
The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. On April 15, 2023, war broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), resulting in a massive escalation of humanitarian needs across the country and widespread displacement.
Some 16.4 million people are currently uprooted by conflict in Sudan, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world. The vast majority of the displaced - more than 13.1 million women, children and men - have been forced from their homes by the war, which erupted in April 2023 and continues unabated.
As of March, 11.9 million people were internally displaced in Sudan, including 2.8 million displaced before April 2023. At least 500,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries before the outbreak of the current conflict. The total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at more than 4.5 million.
Over the course of nearly 23 months, more than 9.1 million people - including refugees already living in the country - have been internally displaced, and more than 4 million have been forced to flee to neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
Some 24.6 million people - nearly half of Sudan's population - face severe food insecurity (IPC phase 3 or worse). The rapid deterioration of food security in Sudan has left at least 638,000 people in catastrophic conditions (IPC phase 5), while 8.1 million people are estimated to be in emergency hunger (IPC phase 4).
Famine has been declared in at least five locations in Sudan, including Zamzam and other displacement camps in the western region of Darfur and the western Nuba Mountains. Catastrophic hunger is expected to worsen through May, when the lean season begins. As fighting continues and basic services collapse across most of the country, the crisis is expected to worsen.
Further information
Full text: Sudan’s Zamzam refugee camp: children’s lives on the brink as medical and food supplies dry up, Save the Children International, press release, published March 12, 2025
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/sudans-zamzam-refugee-camp-childrens-lives-brink-medical-and-food-supplies-dry
Full text: The IRC calls for the urgent release of funding for aid in Sudan and lifting of all access barriers ahead of Senior Officials Meeting in Brussels, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), press release, published March 12, 2025
https://www.rescue.org/press-release/irc-calls-urgent-release-funding-aid-sudan-and-lifting-all-access-barriers-ahead
Full text: Sudan’s humanitarian crisis worsens amid conflict and sharp funding cuts, CARE International, press release, published March 12, 2025
https://www.care.org/media-and-press/sudans-humanitarian-crisis-worsens-amid-conflict-and-sharp-funding-cuts/
Full text: Urgent appeal as major donors reduce life-saving funding amid Sudan crisis - Statement by the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, released March 10, 2025
https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/urgent-appeal-major-donors-reduce-life-saving-funding-amid-sudan-crisis-statement-united-nations-resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-sudan-clementine-nkweta-salami