UPDATED: The latest on the 7.8 million displaced people in Sudan, and how you can help

“I had no money to feed my starving, cold children during this difficult journey. After enduring long days, we reached Gadarif State and settled near the Umgragour Refugee Camp, exhausted and hungry.”

Acute food insecurity is at unprecedented levels here, with more than half of the population—approximately 25.6 million people—facing crisis or worse conditions.

The conflict has resulted in significant casualties, damage to critical infrastructure, and deteriorating living conditions for both Sudanese residents and displaced persons coming into Sudan from other countries.

An update from @Deepmala_Mahla, @CARE‘s Chief Humanitarian Officer on the harrowing situation in #Sudan which worsens by the hour. #Women & #girls are suffering immensely in the scorching heat without proper shelter. The world must act now to save the lives of affected people. pic.twitter.com/F3zbtPjDlj

— CARE ECSA Region (@CAREECSARegion) July 29, 2024

“The stories we hear from the ground are heartbreaking,” said Abdirahman Ali, country director of CARE in Sudan. “Families are struggling to survive, with many facing severe hunger and malnutrition. We cannot stand by and watch Sudan succumb to this crisis.”

Halima*, another displaced mother of five, paints another grim picture of the daily struggle for survival at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in East Darfur.

“My children are starving and every day I see them losing weight as they become sicker,” she said. “There is food in the markets, but it’s too expensive. We are afraid we might lose our children. We urgently need food, clean water, good shelter, and medical care.”

The situation is dire for the 755,000 people in 10 states, including parts of Kordofan, Blue Nile, Al Jazirah, and Khartoum, and the entire Darfur region, who are suffering from hunger.

The recent escalation of violence in Sinnar and Sinjah has resulted in an influx of displaced people into neighboring regions such as Gadarif, New Halfa, and Kassala. Many of those arriving have been displaced multiple times since the conflict began in April 2023.

“We’re also calling for the parties to the conflict in Sudan to go back to the negotiation table and bring this conflict to a stop,” Abdirahman Ali went on.

“This is the only way to assure the safety of the people who are living in Sudan, and also guarantee an unlimited and unhindered access to humanitarian actors working in all areas in Sudan.”

Just in the past few weeks, CARE in Sudan and its partners have been intensifying efforts to support the newly displaced, with over 6,000 IDPs in Kassala receiving emergency food rations, including sorghum, cooking oil, salt, and lentils.

In East Darfur, CARE’s recent push has reached 1,303 children with food rations. However, the needs remain vast, and life-saving food assistance is crucial to prevent what could become the largest famine in decades.

Deepmala Mahla, CARE’s Chief Humanitarian Officer, was in Sudan last week.

“We are in this displacement site where we have more than 600 people who have been uprooted from their homes, and they’re sheltering here,” she said. “The temperature here is more than 44 degrees [111°F]. It’s dry, it’s dusty. It’s very, very hot in this country.

“More than half of the people are facing severe levels of hunger. This is the largest displacement crisis in the world.

“I’ve spoken to women and girls here. They’ve described the long and difficult journeys that they have taken. They have come from South Kordofan they have come from Sinnar and Sinjha because they’re looking for safety.”

To bolster health services and reach remote areas, CARE South Sudan collaborated with the county health department to enhance the Boma Health Initiative (BHI) workforce.

Sixty BHIs were enlisted to address various health issues affecting children, including malaria, anemia, and malnutrition, while also conducting health education and awareness campaigns in the most isolated regions.

After the health care workers arrived, the program saw a 70 percent growth in access to life-saving nutrition and medical services, along with a 105 percent increase in support services for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).

CARE is working with partners such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Humanitarian Access Working Group, and the Logistics Cluster to address food insecurity, looting, bureaucratic hurdles, and fuel shortages.

Already this year, CARE’s work has reached over 666,000 people with humanitarian aid and is developing cash distribution proposals targeting affected people, especially women-headed households.

Despite these efforts, CARE continues to call for additional funding to support the Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2024 and the Sudan Famine Prevention Plan 2024, which require substantial resources to provide life-saving assistance to millions across Sudan.

“I’ve heard of very difficult journeys and the complex life here where they have very limited livelihood options,” Deepmala said. “But amidst grave humanitarian crisis, I met two young girls who described to me their dreams about becoming heart surgeons and pilots of big airplanes. This is what gives me hope. This is what should be giving all of us hope, but the time is now. We need to act now. They are waiting for us to act. We have to do everything in our power to make their dreams come true.”

*Names have been changed.

For more about CARE’s work in Sudan, please visit the country page here, and for more information on the specific disaster relief efforts there, please visit the emergency response page here.

Here’s how you can help: