Four United Nations agencies have sounded the alarm over Sudan’s escalating humanitarian disaster, calling for immediate international action to avert further suffering.
In a joint appeal, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UNICEF, and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that more than 900 days of conflict, famine, and human rights violations have pushed millions to the brink of collapse.
The agencies said over 30 million people now require urgent assistance, including nearly 10 million displaced and 15 million children.
The war has devastated infrastructure and wiped out essential services, leaving families without food, healthcare, or education.
While fighting has eased in some areas, allowing 2.6 million people to return home, many have found their houses destroyed and public services in ruins. More than one million people have returned to Khartoum since early 2025.
“This scale of return is both a sign of resilience and a warning,” said IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels. “People are coming back to a city still scarred by war, where essential services barely exist.”
The conflict has crippled Sudan’s education and health systems, with 14 million children out of school and malnutrition rates soaring to critical levels. Thousands of children face death without immediate food and nutrition aid.
UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly T. Clements described Sudan as enduring “one of the worst protection crises in decades,” with families fleeing under desperate conditions.
In El Fasher, more than 260,000 civilians, including 130,000 children, remain trapped under siege for over 16 months, cut off from food, water, and medical care. Cholera and measles outbreaks are spreading across the Kordofan region.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban urged global leaders to act swiftly, warning that “children are facing hunger, disease, and the collapse of essential services.”
The agencies said the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan, valued at $4.2 billion, is only 25 percent funded, threatening to halt life-saving operations.
They called for an immediate ceasefire, protection of civilians, unrestricted aid access, and urgent financial support to sustain relief efforts across Sudan.
