Sudan: Two years into the conflict, the world's largest humanitarian crisis threatens regional stability

Two years into Sudan’s brutal war, the humanitarian catastrophe has spilled into neighbouring countries and threatens regional stability. The looming rainy season, combined with aid cuts by the US and other key donors, will severely hamper humanitarian efforts putting millions more lives at risk, a new report by Oxfam and other humanitarian agencies warned today.

The report –The Unravelling of the World’s Largest Humanitarian Disaster: From the Sahel to the Red Sea – published jointly by humanitarian organisations responding in Sudan and neighbouring countries, highlights the staggering human cost of what is now the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Almost nine million people are living in or on the brink of famine. More than 12.7 million people — nearly one-third of the population — have been forced to flee their homes, 3.7 million of them to neighbouring countries.These include South Sudan and Chad, where the humanitarian needs were already dire due to ongoing conflict, food insecurity and climate shocks, leaving them ill-equipped to manage the influx of refugees from Sudan.

In South Sudan, the arrival of people fleeing Sudan’s conflict has put more pressure on already scarce resources, which is deepening local tensions and threatening the fragile peace South Sudan is struggling to maintain.

Fati N’Zi-Hassane, Oxfam in Africa Director, said: “We are already witnessing clashes between armed groups from South Sudan and Sudan. This volatile situation is simmering like a volcano ready to erupt any minute. Unless the fighting stops and the humanitarian crisis is addressed, the situation could quickly turn into a full-blown regional catastrophe.”

Nadia, who fled Sudan after soldiers killed her husband and two children, is now sheltering in the transit camp in Renk, South Sudan, with her five-year-old son. She said: “The war took everything. We left with nothing but the clothes on our backs. Here, we are safe from bullets, but there is no food, we are dying of hunger.”

Over 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan – the highest in a single country in recent history. Yet, international support is falling severely short. Only 10 per cent of this year’s UN humanitarian appeal for Sudan has been met to date.

The recent suspension of approximately $64 million USAID funding for Chad and South Sudan has also dealt a severe blow to lifesaving efforts. In 2024, the U.S. was the largest donor to both countries.

N’Zi-Hassane said: “Turning a blind eye to this crisis would not only be a profound political and moral failure, but a failure of our core humanity.”

Oxfam and the other humanitarian agencies urge all warring parties to halt fighting and prioritize diplomacy, in order to forge an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

Ends

Contact

For media enquiries or copies of the report, please contact Oxfam’s media team at media.unit@oxfam.org.uk or call 07748 761999

Note to editors

• The report, The Unravelling of the World’s Largest Humanitarian Disaster: From the Sahel to the Red Sea, is jointly endorsed by Sudan and South Sudan Forum, Inter Agency Working group (IAWG) for East and central Africa and Forum des ONG en Afrique de l'Ouest et centrale (FONGI)
• Oxfam is supporting 150,000 Sudanese people fleeing the conflict in Renk, South Sudan, and has reached 94,562 refugees in the Eastern part of Chad with lifesaving clean water, hygiene facilities and cash.
• Sudan currently accounts for 1 in 8 internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide and 1 in 13 refugees globally, making it the world’s largest displacement crisis.
• Sudan war has left 4.8 million people across neighbouring countries (Egypt, Libya, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Uganda) in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. This is more than doubled since 2023
• In South Sudan, the number of people needing assistance has more than doubled over the past decade—from 4.1 million in 2015 to 9 million in 2025 while in Chad, one in three people - about 7 million people need assistance in 2025.
• Approximately $64 million USAID funding for Chad and South Sudan in 2025 has been cut. Source:  The Center for Global Development.
• In December 2024, the Famine Review Committee (FRC) classified a Famine (IPC Phase 5) in five areas in Sudan: Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al Salam camps in Al Fasher locality and in the Western Nuba Mountains. It also projected that Famine would expand to five additional areas by May 2025.
• The UN appeal for Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 is $434.5 million. Only 10 per cent of this amount has been funded according to the UNOCHA Financial Tracking Service
• Despite funding needs, only a third of the Regional Refugee Response Plan was met last year.