While the world's attention is focused on armed conflicts elsewhere, some 15.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Sudan, making the situation by far the largest displacement crisis in the world. The vast majority of the displaced - more than 12.3 million women, children and men - have been uprooted by the war, which began in April 2023 and continues unabated. Yet the emergency receives almost no media, diplomatic, or political attention, and the humanitarian response is grossly underfunded.
The scale of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan is unprecedented. On April 15 last year, war broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), causing widespread displacement and escalating humanitarian needs across the country.
According to the latest UN estimates, some 30.4 million people - two-thirds of the population - will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2025, making Sudan not only the largest displacement crisis, but also the largest humanitarian crisis in the world.
Over the course of nineteen months, more than 12.3 million people have been displaced as a result of the ongoing conflict, including nearly 9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and more than 3.3 million people who have crossed borders into other countries.
Most Sudanese - some 3.1 million - have sought 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 1.2 million, followed by South Sudan with more than 874,000 people - many of them South Sudanese returning after many years. Chad has seen the largest influx of refugees in its history, with some 719,000 people crossing the border.
As of December, 11.8 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 escalation of the conflict. The total number of Sudanese refugees is now estimated at over 3.8 million.
In total, some 15.6 million people have been displaced by conflict in Sudan. This ranks Sudan as the world's largest displacement crisis, followed by Syria, where - before the latest escalation in December - some 13.6 million people had been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of the war.
Today, Sudan is also the world's largest hunger crisis, with more than half of the country's population - nearly 26 million people - facing high levels of acute hunger, including some 755,000 on the brink of famine. Famine has been confirmed in Zamzam camp in North Darfur - Sudan's largest IDP camp - and several other areas are at risk.
To make matters worse, for the first time since the start of the conflict, the Rapid Support Forces have been bombing Zamzam camp intensively in recent days, devastating the civilian population and forcing aid workers to leave the area.
Zamzam camp, currently home to over 500,000 displaced people, was the target of unprecedented RSF attacks earlier this week. The ongoing violence has been compounded by severe restrictions on access to the camp, depriving people facing starvation of desperately needed humanitarian assistance.
Zamzam camp hosts displaced people from across the Darfur region, with many of the newly arrived residents displaced from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which has been the scene of fierce hostilities over the past nine months. Civilians who remain trapped in El Fasher are almost completely cut off from aid as the siege and bombing of the city continues unabated.
Tens of thousands of others are likely to face similar conditions in 13 other famine-prone areas identified in the latest IPC analysis. The situation is particularly critical for people trapped in conflict-affected areas, especially Al Jazira, Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan.
Sudan has one of the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, with an estimated 3.7 million children aged 6 to 59 months and 1 million pregnant and lactating women acutely malnourished.
After nearly 20 months of relentless conflict, civilians continue to bear the brunt of the violence. The fighting has resulted in shocking patterns of sexual violence against women and girls, indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, widespread damage and destruction of civilian infrastructure, attacks on health facilities, and killings targeting ethnic groups.
Children continue to be killed and maimed, subjected to sexual violence, recruited by armed parties, and denied access to essential services and humanitarian assistance. Women and girls are at increased risk of conflict-related sexual violence, with an estimated 12.1 million people in need of gender-based violence (GBV) services.
In addition to the spreading conflict, climate shocks - including unusually heavy rains and flooding - and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera, malaria and measles are exacerbating the humanitarian emergency.
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 Sudan's war-affected states, and only 45 percent of such facilities are fully functional in other states.
The Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2024 calls for US$2.7 billion to reach 14.7 million people by the end of this year. As of today, it is only 59 percent funded. This year's Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) requires $1.5 billion to support 3.3 million refugees, returnees and host communities in seven countries bordering Sudan. To date, the RRP is only 30 percent funded.