Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is one of the worst the world has seen in "potentially decades" but a $1.8 billion funding appeal is falling badly short of its goal, a UN official has told The National.
In one example of the dire humanitarian situation, Mamadou Dian Balde, a director of UN refugee agency UNHCR responsible for East Africa, described meeting a Sudanese mother who trekked 350 kilometres on foot to escape the war in her country.
Mr Balde met her in February in neighbouring Chad, where more than 800,000 Sudanese are seeking refuge and where the mother had sought safety for her family. But some of her children disappeared en route, and her story still lingers with him and drives his mission.
One in three Sudanese have been displaced since deadly fighting broke out between the country’s Armed Forces and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in April 2023, with the conflict now entering its third year. The Sudan conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions more, according to UN figures.
UNHCR regional director
Four million Sudanese have fled the country into neighbouring nations where resources are already stretched thin, such as Chad and South Sudan, while eight million are internally displaced, according to Mr Balde.
“When you have four million people outside the country in a matter of two years, it is quite unprecedented,” Mr Balde told The National. “That equates to the population of a whole country like Croatia.”
Funding gap
While refugee numbers and their humanitarian needs are on the rise, and with no end in sight to the conflict, funding to support UNHCR’s response to Sudan’s refugee crisis is at its "worst", Mr Balde said.
The Sudan Refugee Response Plan for 2025 has only met 11 per cent of its $1.8 billion target almost halfway into the year, a UNHCR report shows. The funding gap is massive at 89%, leaving displaced Sudanese with urgent humanitarian needs to bear the consequences, said Mr Balde.
“We have the worst humanitarian situation, the greatest displacement situation, and at the same time, the worst humanitarian funding. You can imagine that when you bring these three together, refugee numbers are growing, humanitarian needs are growing, but finances are at their worst,” he told The National.
The refugee response plan aims to provide life-saving assistance such as emergency shelters, relocation from border areas to safer locations, social support, clean water, health care and education. The plan also aims to help host countries strengthen their services and put in place programmes that will help bring stability.
Mr Balde is on an official trip to the Gulf to meet partners in the region, thank them for their contributions, and seek continued solidarity in actualising the response plan.
“What we need is to really step up our support for funding as well as step up our effort for peace because it has just gone on for far too long,” he said.
Mr Balde sat with The National at UNHCR’s offices in the International Humanitarian City of Dubai, ahead of a visit to the UN refugee agency’s largest global aid stockpile to oversee operations. The UAE has contributed more than $600 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan since the conflict erupted.
“When people think that Sudan is too far away, it's not. I think that's a message people should be reminded of,” Mr Balde told The National. “We are quite interconnected, and the message of solidarity towards this country is as relevant as ever.”
As the world witnesses other pressing global conflicts, the Sudan situation “remains central”, said Mr Balde. “We need real solidarity, not only statements,” he said.
