UN aid agencies said on 14 September 2026 that they may be forced to scale back humanitarian assistance in Sudan – home to the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis – due to funding shortfalls.
“We simply can’t turn our back on the people of Sudan when they need us most,” said the Director General of the UN migration agency (IOM) Amy Pope. “The entire humanitarian system could collapse within weeks if we don’t act now.”
Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal civil conflict since 2023 between rival militaries and their backers. Some 8.6 million people remain internally displaced and 19.5 million people currently face crisis levels of food insecurity, which has been compounded by maritime disruptions and drought caused by the El Niño weather pattern.
Following an eight-day trip to Sudan, WFP Acting Director Carl Skau said the crisis in Sudan “by far does not get the attention it deserves.”
According to Skau, WFP has the presence and capacity to deliver an effective humanitarian response but is mostly constrained by funding. “It is possible to make a difference,” he said. “Our main problem is funding. There is a risk we will have to scale back quite significantly in the next few weeks unless more funding is provided.”
The Common Humanitarian Pipeline system, managed by IOM and allowing more than 100 partners to provide aid, has reached 2.84 million people since July 2023. But its reach has shrunk each year due to falling donations as other crises dominate global attention.
IOM warned that current shelter, sanitation and emergency household relief items will run out by the end of September, while warehouses will close without additional funding by December.
Meanwhile, WFP reaches 4 to 5 million people in Sudan each month with humanitarian aid, including agricultural support and cash and food assistance.
Amid access challenges by road, Skau said WFP recently expanded its humanitarian aid service in Sudan. With additional humanitarian funding, the UN and its partners could expand the air service and reach more civilians in need.
“We need to step up,” Skau said. “We cannot continue to fail these people.”
The ongoing war in Sudan, which erupted 15 April 2023, remains the world’s worst displacement and hunger crisis. The war is a brutal power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), which resulted in the displacement of 12 to 15 million people and the deaths of over 150,000.
As the war enters its fourth year, the violence has fractured the country geographically, with the RSF controlling much of western and southern Sudan (including Darfur), while the SAF maintains control over northern, eastern, and central regions. Efforts by the international community to broker permanent ceasefires continue to stall.
Source: UN News
