Sudan

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement supporting people in Sudan who are in need of humanitarian aid.

Last updated: 18 December 2025

Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by conflict.

In the weeks since the end of October 2025, over 90,000 have fled the city of El Fasher amid starvation and brutal violence.

5 Sudanese Red Crescent workers were tragically killed in Bara, North Kordofan in November. This raised the death toll of volunteers during this conflict to 21.

More than 40,000 volunteers and staff from the Red Crescent are working on the ground in every state to support people fleeing with food aid and shelter.

To support families in Sudan, the British Red Cross has allocated another £400,000 from our Disaster Fund to help deliver desperately-needed life-saving support.

After two years of devastating conflict, Sudan has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Sudan needs critical help right now – please donate to our Disaster Fund.

Donate to the Disaster Fund

What is happening in Sudan?

Fighting began in the capital Khartoum and has spread across all 18 states of Sudan. Frequent flooding and damaged infrastructure are making the crisis worse.

Famine has been confirmed in 2 areas. An additional 20 areas of the country are at risk of famine.

Almost 12 million people have been forced to leave their homes. That’s more than the populations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

1 in 7 of the world's internally displaced people are Sudanese.

Since the conflict broke out in Sudan, around 4.2 million people have fled to neighbouring countries, including almost 1 million people to Chad.

Up to 150,000 people have been killed so far, making the conflict in Sudan the fourth deadliest in the world.
33.7 million people - over two-thirds of the population - need urgent humanitarian assistance.
19.2 million people's lives are at risk, due to having extremely limited access to food.
3.2 million children under 5 are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2026.
7,000 people have been registered missing in relation to the conflict.

More than 90% of schools remain closed.
2 out of 3 people in Sudan no longer have access to essential health services.
80% of hospitals are out of service in affected areas.
All 18 states in Sudan are struggling to contain simultaneous outbreaks of three or more epidemics, including cholera, dengue, malaria and measles.
120,000 cases of cholera have led to over 3,000 deaths.

What is the situation in El Fasher?

The situation in and around El Fasher is getting worse. Thousands of families are cut off from aid. People are fleeing to Al Dabbah, Northern State and Tawila, North Darfur.

Famine has been confirmed in El Fasher. It has reached the most severe level on the international food security scale. This can lead to extreme malnutrition, starvation and death.

75% of children under 5 that flee to Tawila from El Fasher are malnourished. 1 in 4 are severely malnourished.

People who make it to Tawila and Al Dabbah are severely malnourished, wounded, traumatised and separated from family members.

They are receiving food packages, hygiene items, clothes and psychosocial support.

In Tawila, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Sudanese Red Crescent have provided financial assistance to 10,000 families – around 60,000 displaced people. This supports their immediate needs including food shelter, and healthcare.

The effects of the conflict in Sudan

The conflict has destroyed essential infrastructure such as:

agriculture
water systems
telecommunications

Schools have had to be repurposed into shelters for people in need.

Sudan’s health system is on the brink of collapse. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are being attacked and those that remain are overwhelmed and under-resourced.

Women and girls are being disproportionately affected by food insecurity and lack of access to water and sanitation.

At least 80% of internally displaced women in Sudan are unable to secure clean water.

38% of pregnant and breastfeeding women, and 60% of adolescent girls are malnourished. This leads to acute malnutrition in infants.

74% of school-age girls are currently out of education. They are at increased risk of harmful practices including child marriage and female genital mutilation.

The rate of gender-based violence has doubled since the beginning of the conflict. Special attention is given to women and children by setting up safe spaces, providing protection and psychosocial support services.

What are we doing to help Sudan?

The total Disaster Fund support to the Sudan crisis is now at £1.75 million.

The Red Crescent has been providing ongoing humanitarian assistance and essential services on the ground since the beginning of the conflict. Red Crescent volunteers have been:

providing emergency first aid
conducting search and rescue
facilitating evacuations
reuniting families and much more.

The Sudanese Red Crescent’s response

With more than 40,000 volunteers, Red Crescent has reached 8.8 million people with life-saving assistance since the conflict began in April 2023.

Access for humanitarian aid remains challenging. However, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is able to provide aid in all 18 states because of support for the Sudanese Red Crescent in local communities.

Since the start of the conflict, the Red Crescent has:

Provided 1.4 million people with emergency medical care, first aid, and psychological first aid.
Supported more than 2 million people with shelter and essential household items.
Introduced or improved clean water, sanitation and hygiene services in multiple states.
Provided 15,000 people with protection, gender and inclusion support.
Restored family links for separated and displaced families.
Distributed food and cash to 1.2 million people in 13 states across Sudan in partnership with the World Food Programme.
Supported over 10,000 people impacted by floods.

Not enough support is reaching Sudan. Many humanitarian organisations have left the country because of safety concerns.

Red Crescent staff have been attacked, shot and killed in the line of duty. Despite this, the Red Crescent is continuing negotiations and discussions to get all parties to respect international humanitarian law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross's response

The International Committee of the Red Cross has also provided support to more than 1.1 million people in Sudan. They have:

Admitted over 23,000 people to hospital for surgical operations
Improved access to clean water for over 500,000 people and counting
Given hot meals to over 21,000 people.
Provided cash assistance to over 44,000 people.
Helped more than 1 million people fleeing the conflict in neighbouring countries.
Provided food support to more than 200,000 people, and essential items including soap and blankets to more than 100,000 people.

In April 2025, the British Red Cross gave £400,000 from the Disaster Fund to expand a Danish Red Cross and Sudanese Red Crescent cash assistance programme. This money was used to provide cash, covering 8,277 people in Khartoum and White Nile states.

The first phase went very well. It reached more families than expected. With the cash, families were able to buy food, medicine, pay medical bills, clear debts, and even start small businesses.

In December 2025, another £400,000 was allocated to support people fleeing El Fasher.

Supporting Sudanese refugees in Chad

The Sudan conflict is taking place in Sudan but has a spillover effect into neighbouring countries including Chad, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and Libya and Uganda.

These countries have received around 4.2 million refugees fleeing Sudan. Almost 900,000 have fled to Chad alone.

Many have received support from local Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. This includes volunteers from the Red Cross of Chad who are supporting refugees who have fled across the border.

They provide basic shelter, health and sanitation services, both in the camps and at Humanitarian Service Points at the border.They also provide water, food, cash, household items and help reunite families.

Cholera outbreaks have crossed over into Chad and food security is dire.

10% of children arriving at the border are severely malnourished and there are fears that 80% of children in Sudanese refugee camps in Chad will experience acute malnutrition.