Sudan continues to face the effects of ongoing conflict, economic shocks, political unrest, and recurrent climatic shocks, such as drought and flooding, resulting in more than 24.8 million people requiring humanitarian assistance during 2024, according to the UN. On April 15, 2023, conflict erupted between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces, generating widespread displacement and exacerbating humanitarian needs throughout the country. Consequently, Sudan is the largest displacement crisis in the world, with nearly 8 million people displaced since the onset of the conflict by mid-2024. The armed conflict in Sudan is also a child protection crisis, posing the highest number of child protection violations in Sudan in more than a decade. Widespread conflict-related gender-based violence (GBV) has increased across Sudan since the outbreak of the conflict, resulting in the use of negative coping strategies. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that 6.7 million people are at risk of GBV and 3.5 million women and girls need reproductive health care services.
Food needs are particularly dire across Sudan, with 25.6 million people in need of emergency food assistance this year, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Critically, the Famine Review Committee determined that Famine—IPC 5—conditions are ongoing in North Darfur State’s Zamzam IDP camp—hosting between 400,000 and 600,000 people—and similar conditions are likely affecting Abu Shouk and Al Salam IDP sites as of early August.
USAID is responding to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, providing emergency assistance as access and security conditions allow, while continuing to assess the increasing needs to provide support across the country. The USG has been providing assistance to Sudan since 1987, responding to a variety of complex emergencies and natural disasters. With the current conflict, the USG continues to provide critical humanitarian assistance, including food aid through UN and international nongovernmental organization partners, and build new partnerships with local organizations to meet the most urgent needs of vulnerable and conflict-affected populations across Sudan. USAID activated a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) and a Response Management Team to coordinate ongoing USAID response efforts in Sudan on April 23, 2023.
