Press Release: Conflict in Sudan will exacerbate pre-existing humanitarian needs

The humanitarian situation in Sudan has long been critical due to a combination of conflict, extreme weather patterns and political and economic crisis, which has resulted in high levels of vulnerability. 

“We are deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in Sudan and its impact on the lives of civilians, refugees and migrants already present in the country", says James Curtis, DRC Executive Director in East Africa and Great Lakes. 

“Provisions must be made for the delivery of critical life-saving support and medical assistance to those caught up in the conflict and humanitarian law must be respected. Civilians and humanitarian workers must be ensured safe passage out of conflict zones. Access to humanitarian assistance must be made available to civilians, including humanitarian workers’ access to affected populations.”   

The escalation of conflict, including attacks on humanitarian workers, have put humanitarian agencies in a deadlock, preventing them from providing life-saving assistance to a large portion of the population: 15.8 million people needed humanitarian assistance before the conflict started. 

As a result of the conflict, DRC immediately suspended all activities across the country. DRC is doing everything possible to gradually resume programming in a safe and principled manner. While Khartoum and Darfur have been particularly affected, fighting has been observed throughout the country, including in residential areas. DRC continues to monitor the security and displacement implications of the conflict, including at the regional level as movements have already been observed into Chad. 

Note to Editors  

• DRC has been present in Sudan since 2004, delivering life-saving programming in protection, emergency response, shelter, food security and livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, camp management, and humanitarian mine action.   
• DRC implements projects in Central Darfur, South Darfur, South Kordofan, Gedaref, Kassala, and Khartoum states.  
• 15.8 million people needed humanitarian assistance before the conflict started, and over 4 million needed protection support. 
• Sudan hosts one of the largest displaced populations in Africa, with over 3.7 million internally displaced people and over 1.1 million refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Chad, Yemen, and Syria.   
• Approximately one-third of the country’s 46.7 million population faced food insecurity in March 2023. 

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Danish Refugee Council, DRC, is a leading, international humanitarian displacement organisation, supporting refugees and internally displaced persons during displacement, in exile, when settling and integrating in a new place or upon return. We provide protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance. We support displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies - and we work with communities, civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence. Founded in Denmark in 1956, 9,000 staff, 7,500 Volunteers. 

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