The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has called for urgent international support for Sudan, warning that humanitarian needs are rising across the country while aid funding remains critically low.
“Sudan is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, yet it is also one of its most overlooked,” IFRC Special Envoy for Sudan Derk Segaar told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday following a visit to the country.
Segaar said international attention has largely focused on fighting in Darfur and Kordofan, but the effects of more than three years of conflict are being felt far beyond the front lines.
According to the IFRC, around 35 million people need humanitarian assistance, more than 9 million have been displaced inside Sudan and another 4.5 million have fled to neighbouring countries.
The Sudanese Red Crescent, supported by the IFRC, has about 122,000 volunteers operating across all 18 states and remains one of the few humanitarian organisations capable of reaching communities throughout the country.
Segaar warned, however, that local volunteers cannot respond to the scale of the emergency without significantly greater international backing.
He said Khartoum remains heavily damaged, with millions of people still lacking dependable access to electricity, clean drinking water and medical care.
The country is also facing outbreaks of cholera, widespread malnutrition and the growing threat of seasonal flooding, further straining already weakened health and humanitarian systems.
Only 35% of the IFRC’s emergency appeal for Sudan has been funded, Segaar said, warning that declining humanitarian resources could undermine efforts to support communities attempting to recover after more than 1,200 days of conflict.
