Sudan

Twenty years after the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region first sparked global outrage, children in the region are once again trapped in a catastrophic cycle of violence, hunger, and displacement — but this time, the world is failing to take notice, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Tuesday. The UN agency warns that, while the horrors of 2005 are repeating, the scale of the crisis is far greater now, and international attention is dangerously lacking.

Acute food insecurity and malnutrition levels remain alarmingly high and deeply entrenched across the world, with crises increasingly concentrated in a core group of countries, according to the Global Report on Food Crises (GRFC), which was released on Friday. The 2026 edition of the GRFC shows that acute hunger has doubled over the past decade, with two famines being declared last year — the first time this has happened in the report's ten-year history.

Three years of war in Sudan have created the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis. Tens of thousands of children, women and men have been killed, starved, and maimed. With no signs of the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and its regional impacts abating, United Nations leaders expressed alarm on Wednesday at the insufficient funding and diplomatic attention being given to the conflict and its consequences.

Two leading United Nations agencies are warning that more than a million Sudanese refugees in Chad face immediate and life-threatening cuts to food, water, shelter, protection, and health care as the conflict in neighboring Sudan approaches the three-year mark. Earlier this week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that they will drastically scale back essential assistance to refugees in Chad unless the US$428 million funding gap is filled.

At a time when humanitarian needs are rising and funding is falling rapidly, Tom Fletcher, the United Nations relief chief and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated US$48 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS). This funding will enable UNHAS to continue operating in eight crisis-stricken countries.

Ahead of the third anniversary of the start of the devastating war in Sudan, humanitarian organizations are warning that essential services and survival-critical systems are collapsing. As the conflict approaches this grim milestone, they are drawing particular attention to the needs of those displaced by the war, both within the country and across borders, as well as to the urgent needs of children and women, who are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing emergency.

The trauma of mass displacement and humanitarian supply chain disruptions throughout the world are among the devastating impacts of the war in Iran and the wider Middle East, UN humanitarian officials warned on Tuesday. As the conflict shows no signs of easing, the breakdown of supply networks is worsening global hunger, putting up to 45 million additional people at risk and pushing already vulnerable communities closer to catastrophe.

A hospital in war-torn Sudan has reportedly been attacked, killing at least 64 people and marking the latest in a series of assaults on health facilities. Late Friday, the Al Deain Teaching Hospital in Al Deain, the capital of East Darfur State, was struck, leaving scores of civilians dead, including 13 children, two nurses, a doctor, and multiple patients. The latest attack also injured 89 people, including eight health care workers.

At a time of severe cuts to the global body’s humanitarian work in emergencies and “soaring” needs, the UN’s relief chief has condemned the “$1 billion-a-day” cost of the war roiling Iran and the wider Middle East. On Wednesday in Geneva, he spoke about his efforts to reach 87 million people with life-saving aid, for which US$23 billion is urgently needed.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed deep concern on Thursday regarding the escalating violence in Sudan’s Kordofan region. Escalating fighting has killed and injured civilians, destroyed homes and hospitals, and damaged other civilian infrastructure, further constraining humanitarian access.

Delegates from over 120 countries gathered in Geneva on Monday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), amidst escalating global instability and conflict. Recognizing the dizzying geopolitical uncertainty marked by ongoing conflict and war in Gaza, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the HRC members to hold the line on human rights, which he warned were under a "full-scale attack."

A joint United Nations convoy led by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has reached Dilling and Kadugli, two cities in Sudan’s South Kordofan State, carrying life-saving supplies for over 130,000 people. This 26-truck convoy marks the first major delivery of aid to the area in three months, as high levels of insecurity along the route had previously prevented such deliveries.

As the brutal war in Sudan shows no signs of ending after nearly three years of raging conflict, UN human rights chief Volker Türk called on the international community on Monday to intervene immediately and stop mass killings and other flagrant war crimes against civilians. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, UN aid agencies warned that famine and malnutrition continue to spread across Sudan, with children wasting away while the world looks away.

The United Nations, its humanitarian partners, and the Chadian government launched the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) in N'Djamena, Chad's capital, on Friday, with the goal of supporting millions of people across the country. The plan requests US$986 million, including $540 million for refugees, to assist 3.4 million of the most vulnerable people in Chad.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched its 2026 Global Health Emergency Appeal on Tuesday to ensure that millions of people living in humanitarian crises and conflicts have access to healthcare. The appeal seeks nearly US$1 billion to respond to 36 emergencies worldwide, including the world’s most severe crises, ranging from sudden-onset to protracted crises where health needs are critical.

South Kordofan State is now the epicenter of the war in Sudan, which has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, warned the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Monday. Civilians in this part of southern Sudan face intensified hostilities and a nearly total blockade of humanitarian supplies after a year of starvation and bombardment, said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland at the end of his visit to South Kordofan.

Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday, issuing a stark reminder that the conflict has caused the world's worst hunger crisis and largest emergency of forced displacement. Every day, civilians have been paying "the price for a war they did not choose," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed extreme concern over the impact of escalating violence on civilians in Sudan, especially in Kordofan and North Darfur. On Friday, OCHA reported that the humanitarian situation in the besieged towns of Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan has continued to deteriorate.

Since the last attack on El Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur State at the end of October, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that tens of thousands of refugees and returnees have crossed into neighboring Chad. The Saharan nation is currently hosting approximately 903,000 Sudanese refugees who escaped the conflict that began in Sudan in April 2023.

As the flames of war continue to engulf Sudan, the United Nations Security Council was urged Monday to prevent the horrors of this conflict from recurring and to stop those enabling the violence from spreading instability further across the region. Escalating violence in Sudan is placing civilians at extreme risk and triggering new waves of displacement, particularly in the Kordofan region.

Deep concerns persist for the tens of thousands of people believed to be trapped in the town of El Fasher, located in the western Darfur region of Sudan. However, United Nations aid agencies believe they may soon gain access to the embattled city, where famine has been confirmed. Meanwhile, in South Kordofan State, drone strikes in and around the state capital, Kadugli, and the town of Dilling, point to a rapidly deteriorating security situation.

The United Nations and its aid partners launched their 2026 global humanitarian appeal on Monday to raise a total of US$33 billion to support 135 million people in need through 23 country operations and six plans for refugees and migrants. The appeal aims to save millions of lives in some of the world's most crisis-stricken regions, including those affected by war, hunger, climate disasters, earthquakes, and epidemics.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that the global hunger crisis is deepening. The organization expects 318 million people to face crisis-level hunger or worse next year — more than double the number in 2019. However, the world's response remains "slow, fragmented, and underfunded."

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Joyce Msuya, the deputy head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), delivered a blunt warning: armed conflict is driving the world’s most severe hunger crises, and without decisive political action, famine conditions will worsen in several regions. Msuya stressed that today's hunger is overwhelmingly human-made.

A new United Nations report warns that acute food insecurity is worsening in 16 hunger hotspots across the globe, which threatens to push millions more people into famine or risk of famine, with time running out to avert widespread starvation. The report identifies armed conflict and violence, economic collapse, climate extremes, and an unprecedented decline in humanitarian funding as the main drivers of acute hunger.

United Nations officials are warning that extreme insecurity and appalling human rights violations — including mass killings, ethnic violence, and sexual violence — in the Sudanese town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, have triggered a dramatic surge in people forced to flee and further worsened the country's humanitarian crisis. Despite rising needs, humanitarian operations in North Darfur are on the brink of collapse in the face of severe funding shortages for the Sudan emergency.

As the situation in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, continues to be catastrophic, more details are emerging about the atrocities committed during and after the city's fall to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 23. Reports indicate that nearly 500 patients and their companions at the Saudi Maternity Hospital were slaughtered on Tuesday alone. Local sources report widespread killings, abductions, maiming, and sexual violence, as well as the detention and killing of aid workers.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Monday of a sharp deterioration in the situation in El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State. This warning comes amid reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured the Sudanese army headquarters in the city on Sunday. In light of the situation, UN relief chief Tom Fletcher has called for an immediate ceasefire in El Fasher, across Darfur, and throughout Sudan.

Four United Nations agencies are calling for urgent international attention to address the immense suffering and growing dangers facing the Sudanese population. Over 900 days of brutal fighting, widespread human rights violations, famine, and the collapse of essential services have pushed millions, particularly women and children, to the brink of survival.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that severe disruptions to six of its most critical humanitarian operations are expected by the end of the year due to dwindling global funding, which could push millions into emergency levels of hunger and endanger the lives of millions of vulnerable people. This warning comes at a time when overall global humanitarian funding is drying up, with less than a quarter of this year's appeal being funded, and hunger reaching record highs.

The town of El Fasher, located in Sudan's North Darfur State, once again became the scene of brutal violence over the weekend as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued their assault on civilians. Since Friday evening, at least 60 civilians have been killed in RSF drone attacks. This follows a series of RSF attacks earlier last week that left another 53 civilians dead and many more injured.

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2025, published on Thursday, paints a bleak picture of the world's progress towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of achieving zero hunger by 2030. With at least 56 countries projected to miss the low hunger threshold, and 42 currently experiencing serious or alarming levels of hunger, the report emphasizes the need for renewed commitment and urgent action.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns of a sharp decline in the humanitarian situation in El Fasher, the besieged capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State. OCHA reports that civilians in El Fasher continue to endure relentless attacks, acute hunger, and cholera. The population faces daily threats from shelling, airstrikes, and drone attacks — with fierce clashes reported in north-eastern districts of the state capital in recent weeks.

The United Nations' top humanitarian official issued a blunt warning on Monday about a mounting "age of indifference" as funding for essential aid programs continues to dwindle. Addressing journalists at the UN headquarters in New York, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, highlighted a critical shortfall in resources and the escalating threats facing humanitarian workers worldwide.

A high-level, independent investigation into the crisis in Sudan on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that civilians had been deliberately targeted, displaced and starved. The Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, created by the UN Human Rights Council, also drew attention to the devastating humanitarian emergency resulting from the war.

The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have carried out brutal attacks on the besieged city of El Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan’s North Darfur State which hosts some 25,000 children, women, and men. These attacks resulted in the killing of at least 89 civilians over a ten-day period until Wednesday.

A new shocking record of 383 aid workers killed in 2024 must be a wake-up call to protect all civilians in conflict and crisis, and to end impunity, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday, marking World Humanitarian Day. Most of the aid workers killed last year were national staff members who were attacked in the line of duty or in their homes while serving their communities.

One year after famine was first confirmed in Sudan's North Darfur state, and 843 days after the war erupted, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that families trapped in the besieged state capital of El Fasher face starvation. The town is cut off from humanitarian access, leaving the remaining population with little choice but to fend for survival with whatever limited supplies are left.

As conflict continues to rage across parts of Sudan, including North Darfur State and the Kordofan region, pockets of relative safety have emerged over the past four months — spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to return home, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since last year, a further 320,000 refugees have returned to Sudan, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, some to assess the current situation before deciding to return.

While civilians are being targeted or indiscriminately attacked in several regions of Sudan, with hundreds reportedly killed, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Sudan's humanitarian crisis continues to intensify as cholera spreads throughout the country, flooding displaces communities, and thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) return to areas with little to no support.

A new report published on Friday states that up to 11.6 million refugees and others forced to flee could lose access to direct humanitarian assistance from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) this year due to major cuts to humanitarian budgets around the world. This figure represents approximately one-third of the people the humanitarian organization assisted last year.

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.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the ongoing conflict and spreading disease outbreaks are having a devastating impact on children in Sudan. Separately, independent human rights investigators report that the civil war in Sudan is intensifying, marked by an increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence. Countless civilians caught in the conflict face devastating consequences.

A new joint United Nations report warns that people in five hunger hotspots — Sudan, Palestine (Occupied Palestinian Territory), South Sudan, Haiti, and Mali — face extreme hunger, starvation, and death in the next five months unless urgent humanitarian action is swiftly taken to de-escalate conflict, stop displacement, and provide full-scale aid.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there were 122.1 million forcibly displaced people by the end of April 2025 — up from 120 million at the same time last year, but down from the record high of 123.2 million at the end of 2024. In a report released Thursday, UNHCR stated that the number of people displaced by war, violence, and persecution worldwide is "untenably high," especially given the drying up of humanitarian funding. The only bright spot is a pickup in some returns, notably to Syria.