Khartoum – New York: Europe and the Arabs

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), in collaboration with 123 partners, is urgently seeking $1.6 billion to provide vital, life-saving assistance and better dignity support to 5.9 million people in seven countries neighboring Sudan by the end of the year. According to the UN's daily news bulletin, nearly three years into the conflict, Sudan continues to experience the world's largest displacement crisis and worst humanitarian crisis. This comes amid a severe global funding crisis, the most acute in decades, the UNHCR stated.

As fighting continues in several parts of the country, basic services are collapsing, and humanitarian access remains limited. Thousands of people continue to flee across borders every week, often arriving in vulnerable, albeit hospitable, areas with limited public services and economic opportunities even before the crisis began. The UNHCR stated that its 2026 Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan will continue to prioritize assistance for the approximately 470,000 new refugees expected to arrive in neighboring countries this year, in addition to the thousands already in border areas who have received only minimal assistance since their arrival.

The UNHCR said the need for a fourth annual appeal of this scale underscores the ongoing impact of the conflict in Sudan and the difficulty of keeping pace with the humanitarian response.

Growing Needs and Funding Shortages

While host governments and local communities have shown remarkable solidarity, their capacities are stretched to their limits. Egypt is currently hosting the largest number of people fleeing Sudan, with the number of registered refugees nearly quadrupling since 2023. Despite this, a sharp reduction in funding has forced the closure of two of UNHCR’s three registration centers, impacting access to essential protection services. The funding available per refugee per month was $4 in 2025, a sharp decrease from $11 in 2022. In eastern Chad, more than 71,000 refugee families in need received no housing assistance, leaving them without safe and adequate shelter. Some 234,000 people are awaiting resettlement and living in extremely difficult conditions on the border.

The closure of clinics and the suspension of basic nutrition programs have increased the risk of disease among thousands of Sudanese refugees in the Kiryandongo camp in Uganda.

The widening gap between growing needs and dwindling resources threatens to undermine emergency response efforts and medium-term solutions, UNHCR said.

UNHCR continues to call for stronger international support and for addressing the persistent funding shortfall for humanitarian operations in countries hosting refugees from Sudan, pending a lasting peace.