Sudan’s prolonged war has deepened a humanitarian crisis marked by hunger, displacement and shrinking access to food and basic services, with humanitarian agencies warning that funding shortages are making it increasingly difficult to reach millions of people in need.
For Fatima Ali, a pseudonym used to protect her identity, the crisis is being felt inside her home. Three of her children have reportedly suffered from malnutrition for more than two months, while her husband’s limited income has made it difficult for the family to secure adequate food.
Ali, who lives in the Haj Youssef area east of the Nile, told the Sudanese Ain Network that the continued fighting had disrupted health and humanitarian services in the area.
She said community kitchens had played an important role in feeding residents during the conflict but that many had closed after running short of funding, leaving vulnerable families with fewer sources of food assistance.
Her experience reflects the wider humanitarian emergency facing Sudan more than three years after fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The World Food Programme (WFP) says nearly 19.5 million people are facing crisis levels of hunger, while its Acting Executive Director Carl Skau described Sudan as the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis during a recent eight-day visit to the country. In remarks delivered on September 14, Skau said about 20 million people were experiencing acute hunger and 14 million had been displaced.
Skau said his visit exposed the human cost behind the statistics, including people displaced for years, others who had recently fled their homes and families who had travelled for several days to reach displacement camps.
He also described meeting women struggling to rebuild their lives after losing relatives and livelihoods, as well as women who were forced to return home with empty water containers after supplies at a water point ran out.
The WFP has warned that funding shortages are forcing it to scale back assistance. In its latest update, the agency said it was reducing food support for hundreds of thousands of conflict-displaced people, including nearly 950,000 people in Tawila in North Darfur.
Food restrictions
Alongside the fighting and displacement, reports have raised concerns over restrictions on the movement of food and other essential commodities into areas affected by the conflict.
The Sudanese newspaper Ain Al-Haqiqa reported that authorities in several areas had introduced measures restricting the movement of goods, particularly towards territories controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
The newspaper reported that Northern State Governor Lt Gen Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid Ibrahim issued Emergency Order No. 6 of 2025 on November 25, 2025, restricting the transportation of goods from Northern State to areas where the RSF was present in Kordofan and Darfur.
According to the report, the order provided for prison sentences, fines and confiscation of goods and vehicles for violations.
The newspaper further reported that Khartoum and North Kordofan authorities subsequently introduced additional restrictions affecting the movement of commodities, including food and fuel.
The allegations have generated criticism from political and civil society groups, which argue that restrictions on food supplies can worsen the humanitarian situation for civilians caught up in the conflict.
The National Umma Party, according to the report, said using food restrictions against civilians would violate international humanitarian law, while Radio Dabanga reported strong public opposition to the measures.
Aid under pressure
The restrictions come as humanitarian agencies struggle to maintain operations across a country where conflict has severely disrupted supply routes and access to affected communities.
WFP says it has been reaching more than four million hungry people each month but is being forced to make difficult decisions about where limited resources can have the greatest impact.
The agency has also warned that the hunger crisis is expected to remain severe. Its latest Sudan emergency update says about 19 million people are acutely food insecure and that 825,000 children under five are expected to suffer severe acute malnutrition in 2026.
A joint FAO, WFP and UNICEF assessment published in May said nearly 19.5 million people were facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity, with catastrophic conditions affecting communities in several areas.
Chemical weapons allegations
The conflict has also generated allegations of the use of chemical weapons by Sudanese government forces.
The United States has previously accused Sudan of using chemical weapons, while Sudanese authorities have denied the allegations and said a national investigation found no evidence proving their use.
The issue has also been raised within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), with the United States urging Sudan to cooperate fully with international mechanisms for verification.
In September 2026, The Washington Post reported that it had examined documents, videos and messages which it said pointed to an alleged Sudanese military chemical-weapons programme involving chlorine munitions.
The newspaper said more than two dozen intelligence officials, chemical-weapons inspectors and experts reviewed the material and regarded it as credible evidence of a possible chemical-weapons programme, while stressing that definitive verification would require access to suspected weapons sites and witnesses.
Sudanese authorities rejected the allegations, describing them as untrue and maintaining that chlorine stocks in the country were intended for water treatment, civilian industrial uses and energy. The government also said it was prepared to allow verification by a competent international body.
The allegations remain separate from the wider and well-documented humanitarian crisis, which has continued to worsen as fighting, displacement, restricted humanitarian access and funding shortages converge.
Civilians bear the cost
The conflict has displaced millions of Sudanese and disrupted access to food, water, health services and livelihoods.
Humanitarian organisations continue to call for improved access to affected populations and additional funding as the war enters its fourth year.
For families such as Ali’s, the immediate concern remains survival as food prices, displacement and the closure of community support systems make it increasingly difficult to meet basic needs.
WFP has warned that without additional resources, humanitarian operations will face further reductions at a time when millions of Sudanese are already confronting severe hunger and displacement.
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