The United Nations and humanitarian partners on Monday launched the 2025 humanitarian and refugee response plans for Sudan, appealing for a combined US$6 billion to support nearly 26 million people inside the country and in the wider region. Nearly two years of war have created a catastrophic crisis, uprooting more than 12.6 million people inside Sudan and across borders into other countries.
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 and, for many, the world's worst emergency, disrupting the lives of millions of children, women and men every day.
“Sudan is a humanitarian emergency of shocking proportions,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC).
“Famine is taking hold. An epidemic of sexual violence rages. Children are being killed and injured. The suffering is appalling. But our plan is a lifeline to millions. We need to stop the fighting, the funding to deliver for the Sudanese people, and better access by land, sea and air to those who need help.”
Some 24.6 million people - almost 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 displacement camps in the western region of Darfur and the western Nuba Mountains. Catastrophic hunger is expected to worsen by May, when the lean season begins. With fighting continuing and basic services collapsing across most of the country, the crisis is set to deteriorate further.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a further 17 areas are at risk of famine. In addition, areas of intense conflict, including parts of Khartoum and Al Gezira states, may already be experiencing famine conditions (IPC Phase 5).
Today's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for Sudan aims to reach nearly 21 million vulnerable people with life-saving assistance and protection. This is the highest number of people in any UN coordinated plan this year and requires US$4.2 billion in funding.
“But of course today is not just about funding. We need the international community to come together in support of Sudanese civilians. To press for an immediate end to the appalling violations of international humanitarian law that have come to define this war,” the Emergency Relief Coordinator said.
“To ensure that civilians – including our humanitarian personnel and volunteers – are protected, and that humanitarian access is facilitated and enabled, with the urgency required. And we are also asking the international community to end any external support that adds fuel to this fire.”
Fighting in Sudan continues to kill and injure civilians and destroy hospitals, markets and other critical infrastructure. Desperate refugees are arriving in neighboring countries, where local resources are already stretched thin.
“Shelling and airstrikes continue unabated, killing and injuring civilians, damaging and destroying critical infrastructure, including hospitals,” Fletcher said.
“In recent days, reports of further fighting in and around Zamzam in North Darfur, of more civilian casualties in the camp, roads in and out of the area being blocked.”
Zamzam camp is one of three displacement sites in the El Fasher region where famine conditions have been identified. Zamzam, home to an estimated one million displaced people, and Abu Shok camp have recently been devastated by intense artillery shelling. On Friday, two humanitarian workers were reportedly killed in attacks on Zamzam.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Sudan warned today that the deliberate targeting of civilians and displacement camps such as Zamzam and Abu Shok, as well as the ongoing siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, has turned the region into a death trap for over a million people.
However, fighting has also intensified across many other parts of the country.
“Fighting has intensified in South Kordofan in recent weeks – another state in which famine conditions have recently been confirmed. And across the country, women and girls continue to suffer through appalling patterns of conflict-related sexual violence,” Fletcher added.
“Young men, boys, forcibly recruited and used in combat.”
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), causing an escalation of humanitarian needs across the country and widespread displacement.
“Today, one-third of Sudan’s entire population is displaced. The consequences of this horrific and senseless conflict spread far beyond Sudan’s borders,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
"Neighboring countries have shown great solidarity by welcoming refugees, even when more are arriving every day. But their resources are stretched – essentials such as water, shelter and health services are scarce – and Sudan needs urgent support."
Some 15.9 million people are currently displaced by conflict in Sudan, making it the largest displacement crisis in the world. The vast majority of the displaced - more than 12.6 million women, children and men - have been uprooted by the war that erupted in April 2023 and continues unabated.
As of February, 11.9 million people are internally displaced in Sudan, including 2.8 million who were displaced before April 2023. At least 500,000 Sudanese had fled to neighboring countries before the current conflict broke out. The total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at more than 4 million.
Over the course of 22 months, more than 9.1 million people - including refugees already living in the country - have been internally displaced, and more than 3.5 million have been forced to flee to neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
Chad has been at the center of the Sudanese refugee crisis, experiencing the largest influx of refugees in its history. Since the conflict began, more than 748,000 refugees and more than 220,000 Chadian returnees have entered eastern Chad, which borders Sudan's Darfur region.
Egypt hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees at 1.2 million, followed by South Sudan with more than 1 million people - many of them South Sudanese returning after many years. An estimated 240,000 people have fled to Libya.
As the conflict rages on, thousands more continue to flee every day. Most arrive in an extremely vulnerable condition, with high levels of malnutrition and in need of emergency assistance.
“The international community must step up and help, not just to ensure that emergency aid and life-saving protection can continue without disruption, but also to end the violence and restore peace to Sudan,” Grandi said.
The Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) 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.
Humanitarian agencies are seeking $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. The RRP also aims to help host countries strengthen national services and implement programs that contribute to stability.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), without immediate funding, up to 4.8 million refugees and host community members will continue to face hunger, with at least 1.8 million left without food assistance. Already strained health systems could collapse.
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.
Further information
Full text: Sudan: Summary of the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan (February 2025), UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
https://reliefweb.int/attachments/d6d97f8c-3c53-47b6-8255-d91c8ee66fc9/UNHCR%20OCHA%20Sudan%20Summary%202025.pdf
Full text: Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
https://humanitarianaction.info/plan/1220/document/sudan-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-2025
Full text: Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan 2025, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/114190