Scaling Up Explosive Ordinance Disposal Capacity in Sudan
By strengthening national expertise and leadership, we ensure Sudanese organisations are equipped to address the country’s rapidly evolving contamination crisis, and that mine action is recognised as a critical foundation for humanitarian access, safe returns and long-term recovery.
Executive summary
When conflict erupted across Sudan in April 2023, cities and communities were transformed into frontlines. Fighting across the country has been characterized by intensive urban warfare, heavy artillery shelling and aerial bombardment between opposing forces. Today, the protracted fighting has resulted in widespread explosive ordnance contamination scattered across homes, streets, schools and public buildings, in both cities and rural areas.
An estimated one in ten explosive weapons deployed in conflict fail to detonate on impact, leaving behind a lethal legacy of unexploded and abandoned munitions buried in rubble, hidden in burned-out vehicles and multi-story buildings.
In Khartoum state, the contamination is both unprecedented and uniquely urban, featuring a dangerous mix of landmines, rockets, grenades, and other unexploded ordnance spread across densely populated neighbourhoods. As returns continue, the need for a scaled up mine action response is urgent. However, the lack of trained Sudanese personnel is limiting capacity to deploy additional mine action teams.