The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the situation in Sudan's North Darfur State remains alarming as fighting continues to displace families and people face severe shortages of food and clean water. North Darfur has been an epicenter of clashes since the beginning of Sudan’s brutal conflict over two years ago.
Over 30 million people across Sudan, more than half the population, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The country is experiencing massive internal displacement, famine, widespread hunger, the collapse of health and education systems, and the collapse of law and order.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), thousands have fled Abu Shouk camp and parts of El Fasher town in North Darfur in recent days, seeking safety in places such as As Serief, Tawila, and At Tina.
On Tuesday, the market area inside Abu Shouk camp was reportedly hit by shelling, killing three civilians and injuring many more. Famine was confirmed in this displacement camp late last year.
"This tragic incident is a stark reminder of the toll the conflict is taking on civilians and deepens concerns about their protection," OCHA said Wednesday.
Escalating violence in North Darfur, particularly in and around the town of El Fasher, has led to mass displacement in recent months. In early April, large-scale atrocities involving hundreds of civilian deaths and the displacement of more than 500,000 people were reported from the Zamzam displacement camp — 99 percent of its previously recorded population.
Before the recent attacks, Zamzam was Sudan's largest camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs), hosting more than 500,000 women, children, and men. It was one of three displacement sites in the El Fasher region, alongside Abu Shouk, where famine conditions have been identified.
On Monday, OCHA warned that those remaining in El Fasher face extreme food and clean water shortages, while markets have repeatedly been disrupted. Most of the area's water infrastructure has been destroyed or rendered inoperable due to a lack of maintenance and fuel for generators.
A joint assessment by humanitarian organizations and local authorities found that 38 percent of children under five at displacement sites in El Fasher are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 11 percent with severe acute malnutrition. The breakdown of water and sanitation services, combined with low vaccination coverage, has sharply increased the risk of disease outbreaks.
Meanwhile, aid agencies warn that mass atrocities are underway in North Darfur, affecting thousands of people with indiscriminate and ethnically targeted violence.
In a report released last week, the medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) found systematic patterns of violence including looting, mass killings, sexual violence, abductions, starvation, and attacks on markets, health facilities, and other civilian infrastructure.
The report draws on MSF data, direct observations, and over 80 interviews conducted between May 2024 and May 2025 with patients and displaced individuals from El Fasher and the Zamzam camp.
MSF expressed extreme concern over threats of a full-scale assault on hundreds of thousands of people in El Fasher, North Darfur's state capital, which would lead to further bloodshed.
Many of the people who fled Zamzam are now seeking safety and protection in the Sudanese towns of El Fasher, Tawila, and Dar As Salam. This has placed an enormous strain on the already fragile support systems and threatens the total breakdown of essential services, such as food, water, healthcare, and protection.
Tens of thousands of others have arrived in neighboring Chad, with more arrivals expected as violence and insecurity persist.
The siege of El Fasher continues to severely restrict humanitarian access and the flow of essential goods as active conflict and sporadic shelling endanger civilians.
In Tawila, authorities are reportedly imposing various fees and taxes on local communities, including a share of humanitarian aid — resulting in diversion and interference that undermine the effectiveness of aid and place further strain on vulnerable people.
On Wednesday, OCHA once again reminded the parties of their firm obligations under international humanitarian law.
"They must never direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects and must take all feasible precautions to spare them. Food and other supplies civilians need to survive must be protected," the UN humanitarian office said.
The humanitarian situation in the Kordofan region is also deteriorating. Ongoing violence is forcing more people to flee, often to areas with little or no assistance.
Despite these challenges, aid agencies are doing everything they can to maintain services. In North Darfur, for example, they are providing basic healthcare to more than 1.7 million people, utilizing remaining health facilities and mobile clinics. However, medical supplies are critically low.
The UN and its partners are rushing assistance into the Darfur region. On July 6, a humanitarian convoy led by the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Antoine Gerard, crossed into Darfur from Chad. The convoy is carrying 180 metric tons of life-saving relief items for nearly 400,000 conflict-affected and displaced people in East and South Darfur states.
Meanwhile, flash flooding threatens to hinder humanitarian efforts to reach those in need. On Wednesday, heavy rains in eastern Sudan triggered flash floods in the Northern Delta locality of Kassala State. This occurred as authorities began releasing water from several major dams to manage rising floodwaters.
OCHA reiterates the need for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, calling on the international community to increase support for Sudan's most vulnerable people.
Humanitarian needs continue to far exceed available resources. Halfway through the year, only 22 percent of the $4.2 billion needed for the 2025 humanitarian response plan has been received, leaving a gap of $3.3 billion.
Between January and May of this year, humanitarian organizations provided aid to approximately 12.4 million people, out of the 20.9 million targeted for assistance by the UN and its partners in Sudan.
The suddenness and severity of the funding cuts in the first quarter of 2025 forced the humanitarian community to hyper-prioritize its response efforts. This reprioritization aims to save as many lives as possible with the resources currently available. The reprioritized plan for Sudan targets the most critical needs of 18 million people and requires $3 billion.
Since April 15, 2023, the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces have been engaged in a brutal war that has caused an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. More than 30 million people now need urgent assistance in what is the world's largest humanitarian emergency.
Children account for at least half of those in need of assistance and half of the more than 12 million people displaced since April 2023. Approximately 24 million children in Sudan are at risk of violence, abuse, exploitation, and trauma. Those who are separated from their families or are unaccompanied face heightened risks.
Sudan is also facing the world's largest hunger crisis due to the war. Across the country, approximately 25 million people — nearly half the population — are experiencing acute hunger, and nearly 5 million children and lactating mothers are acutely malnourished.
Sudan is the only country in the world where famine has been confirmed in multiple areas and continues to spread. Ten locations have been declared famine zones: eight in North Darfur State and two in the Western Nuba Mountains. Seventeen other areas, including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum, and Al-Jazira, are at risk of famine.
Additionally, Sudan is confronted with the world's largest and most severe displacement crisis. Since the war began in April 2023, over 13 million people have been forced to flee their homes. More than 4 million of those displaced have crossed into neighboring countries, including Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
In recent months, over a million IDPs have returned to their areas of origin, reducing the overall displacement figure to over 12 million since the start of the war.
However, more and more people continue to cross borders in search of refuge, while more than 10.4 million people are currently displaced in Sudan overall, including 8 million since April 2023 and 2.4 million prior to the outbreak of war.
Fewer than 25 percent of health facilities are operational in Sudanese states most affected by the war, and only 45 percent of facilities in other states are fully functional. Disease outbreaks are worsening and spreading.
According to the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Health, over 32,000 suspected cholera cases have been reported in Sudan in 2025 alone, fueling a total of more than 83,000 cases and 2,100 deaths since the outbreak began in July 2024.
Conflict and collapsing infrastructure continue to drive the spread of the disease and impede response efforts. According to OCHA, more resources are urgently needed to curb the outbreak.