Sudan Monitor for October 2024

October marks 18 months of brutal conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), displacing over 14 million people. Of these, 11 million remain inside Sudan, while 3.1 million have fled to neighboring countries, making up roughly 30 percent of the population. The refugee crisis continues to worsen, with an additional 200,000 individuals displaced since September alone.

Inside Sudan, the humanitarian situation has reached catastrophic levels. Disease and famine are spreading rapidly, and the crisis has been described by Amy Pope, director general of the International Organization for Migration, as “a living nightmare” and “easily the most neglected crisis in the world today.” Despite urgent needs, the UN’s humanitarian appeal is only 52 percent funded, and the IOM has received just 20 percent of its funding target. Nearly 25 million people require assistance, with more than 750,000 facing “catastrophic” food insecurity. Humanitarian aid is being obstructed, and reports of war crimes, including sexual violence, mass killings, and agricultural destruction, continue to mount.

The refugee crisis extends beyond Sudan’s borders. In neighbouring South Sudan, already struggling with its own challenges, resources are stretched thin as hunger and disease rise. Chad, which hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees, faces severe funding shortfalls and lacks the capacity to adequately support these displaced populations.

The ongoing conflict has weaponized starvation, with hunger used as a tactic of war. Civilians suffer widespread violence, torture, and extrajudicial killings, while children are forcibly recruited into armed groups and endure lasting trauma. Gender-based violence is rampant, and forced displacement worsens living conditions in neighboring countries like South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Libya. The situation calls for urgent global intervention and immediate action to address this growing crisis.

For more information, read here our October Monitor on the escalating humanitarian disaster in Sudan.