Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: As the war in Sudan approached its fourth year, the UNHCR and 123 partners have appealed for $1.6 billion to support millions forced to flee the country.
The 2026 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) aims to deliver lifesaving assistance this year to 5.9 million people across seven neighbouring countries: the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda. The plan focused on nearly 470,000 new refugees expected to arrive, along with thousands stuck in border zones with minimal support.
UNHCR regional director Mamadou Dian Balde has said that the repeated appeals reflected the scale of what had become the world’s largest displacement crisis. The UN estimates millions of people displaced by the conflict in Sudan are spread across the seven neighboring countries and humanitarian needs continue to outpace available resources.
The UN appeal aims to fund efforts to provide food, shelter, health care, protection services and other critical support for refugees and host communities affected by the displacement crisis.
Remarkable solidarity UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said communities in countries hosting people fleeing Sudan have shown “remarkable solidarity,” but he warned that their capacity is being pushed to the brink as the conflict between warring military factions, which began in April 2023, drags on.
The funding request marks the fourth consecutive year in which the UN has issued an appeal of this scale for a regional response to the crisis in Sudan, reflecting the persistent shortfalls in humanitarian financing.
The UN also aims to promote longterm solutions, including support for governments to integrate refugees into national systems and expand access to public services, Dujarric said. He reiterated the UN’s call for stronger international backing of efforts to address chronic underfunding of operations in countries hosting people fleeing Sudan. He also urged all of those involved in the conflict to respect the principles of international humanitarian law.
