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Info Service on UN Sustainable Development (Mar25/01) Penang, 11 Mar (Kanaga Raja) — The sudden funding cuts by top government donors are a catastrophic blow to humanitarian assistance in Sudan, “a country in the grip of one of the deadliest humanitarian crises of our times,” a senior United Nations official has warned. In a statement issued on 10 March, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, said key donors recently announced sweeping funding reductions and suspensions, cutting off significant support to humanitarian organizations working to reach about 21 million people in desperate need in Sudan this year. “The reductions come at a time when the needs in Sudan have never been greater, with more than half of the population hungry and famine spreading,” said the UN official. For decades, humanitarian donors have been a lifeline for Sudan. Last year alone, they contributed $1.8 billion through the Sudan humanitarian response plan, funding essential assistance for at least 15.6 million people, she noted. However, Nkweta-Salami said that this year, the needs are even greater – $4.2 billion is required to provide humanitarian aid in Sudan, yet only 6.3 per cent of the funding has been received. The abrupt funding cuts and suspensions will end life-saving humanitarian assistance for millions of women, children and other vulnerable groups across the country, the UN official pointed out. Without urgent funding, famine is likely to spread in the coming months, Nkweta-Salami warned. “This is a time when every lifeline must flow to save lives. I call on all our major donors to reconsider their decisions to reduce funding for life-saving humanitarian assistance in Sudan,” she said. She also urged other governments, donors, foundations, charities, faith-based networks, the private sector and individuals to urgently step up to help fill the gaps left by these devastating reductions. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of 7 March 2025, 30.4 million people are in need of assistance, of whom 20.9 million will be targeted for assistance through the 2025 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. This year’s Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requests a record $4.2 billion. However, OCHA said $261.3 million (6.3%) in funding was received through the 2025 Plan. It further said 2.9 million people received at least one form of humanitarian assistance in January 2025, while 1.6 million were reached with food assistance in the same month. It said that 21,000 people received nutrition support and services, while 203,000 received health support. OCHA said that after nearly 23 months of conflict, the situation on the ground in Sudan continues to worsen. In particular, the UN agency remains concerned about continued violence in North Darfur State. Last week, rising insecurity forced more than 23,000 people to flee their villages in Dar As Salam locality, which is more than 60 kilometres south of the state capital El Fasher, it said. OCHA also said that disease outbreaks are deepening the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. In White Nile State, a cholera outbreak in Kosti locality has infected more than 2,700 people, claiming 94 lives between 20 February and 5 March. The outbreak is linked to people drawing water from contaminated sources, particularly the White Nile River, after electricity outages disrupted the town’s water supply last month, said OCHA, noting that UNICEF warns that 292,000 children in Kosti are at risk. In Kassala State, in eastern Sudan, a hepatitis outbreak is spreading among displaced communities sheltering in overcrowded gathering sites. OCHA said the outbreak is attributed to poor sanitation, lack of hygiene and limited health awareness, putting already vulnerable people at further risk. DIRE HEALTH SITUATION Meanwhile, in its public health situation analysis on the Sudan crisis issued on 10 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Sudan ranks among the top four countries globally for the prevalence of global acute malnutrition, at an estimated 13.6%. A staggering 4.9 million children under five years, along with pregnant and nursing women, were estimated to be acutely malnourished in 2024, marking a 22% increase compared to 2023, it added. WHO said that given the high rates of malnutrition, a debilitated health system and low immunization coverage, disease outbreaks will continue to have catastrophic impacts, particularly for children. Disease outbreaks are increasing in the face of disruptions to basic public health services, including vaccination, disease surveillance, public health laboratories, and rapid response teams, it noted. Outbreaks, including cholera, dengue, malaria, measles, diphtheria, and poliovirus type 2, are ongoing in several states in Sudan, WHO pointed out. However, it said that resources and local capacities to detect and respond to outbreaks are limited, particularly in hard-to-reach areas such as the Darfur and Kordofan states. In addition, insecurity, displacement, and limited access to medicines, medical supplies, electricity, and water, continue to pose enormous challenges to delivering health care across the country, WHO added. WHO also said that the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has detected famine in at least five areas of Sudan, and projects that five additional areas will face famine between December 2024 and May 2025. There is a risk of famine in 17 additional areas, it added. It said this marks an unprecedented escalation of the food and nutrition crisis, driven by the devastating conflict, which has triggered unprecedented mass displacement, a collapsing economy, the breakdown of essential social services, severe societal disruptions, and limited humanitarian access. Famine (IPC Phase 5) was detected in August 2024 in Zamzam camp, North Darfur, and the famine has persisted and expanded to Al Salam and Abu Shouk camps as well as the Western Nuba Mountains for the period October to November 2024, it noted. WHO said that between December 2024 and May 2025, famine is projected to expand in North Darfur localities. There is a risk of famine in the Central Nuba Mountains and in areas likely to experience high influxes of IDPs in North Darfur and South Darfur, it added. The WHO report on Sudan also said that the latest IPC analysis shows that food insecurity is at worse levels than foreseen. Between December 2024 and May 2025, 24.6 million people face high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above). It said these results mark a stark increase of 3.5 million people compared to the number originally projected, and correspond to over half of the population of Sudan. This includes about 15.9 million people (33%) classified in IPC Phase 3 (crisis), 8.1 million people (17%) in IPC Phase 4 (emergency), and at least 638,000 people (1%) in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe). In several states, market functionality remains severely disrupted due to the conflict’s impact on production and trade, resulting in shortages of basic goods and soaring prices, said WHO. It said an interagency assessment revealed that physical barriers to accessing markets are extreme, with 84% of households in Blue Nile and 75% in South Kordofan reporting significant challenges. “Furthermore, telecommunications disruptions have hindered the provision of multi-purpose cash assistance, a critical lifeline for vulnerable families. The conflict has decimated agricultural land, food production, and storage facilities, reducing the availability of and access to food, the WHO report noted. It said the destruction of agrifood processing facilities, a large percentage of which were based in Khartoum, has created a major gap in food supply across the country. +
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