December 18, Nairobi — The lack of international funding to support the emergency response in Sudan has left humanitarian organizations struggling to cope, the aid agency Concern Worldwide said on Monday.
“While the humanitarian community, and Concern, are doing what we can, there is too little funding and too few resources to meet the unprecedented needs,” said Reka Sztopa, Concern’s Regional Director who just returned from the Sudan Chad border. “It is inhuman to think that people can survive, let alone thrive, with such little support.”
Only 62.3 percent of the USD$2.7 billion needed this year for the Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan has been received. Currently, 50 percent of the total population in Sudan — more than 24.7 million people, almost 14 million of whom are children, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Levels of food insecurity, malnutrition and disease continue to soar.
Last week in its Sudan appeal for 2025, the United Nations said that humanitarian programs across refugee hosting countries also need sustained international support to respond, but throughout this year they were underfunded “with severe consequences.”
Others in the field have described the aid response to the crisis in Sudan as “deeply inadequate.” UN officials have cited funding shortfalls and access restrictions, including attacks on aid workers and health facilities, bureaucratic impediments, and operational interference.