photo credit: DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
Sudan is facing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world right now.
In the uncertain, polarised and polycrisis ridden world we are living in, it’s hard to comprehend what sentences like this mean, and easy to feel paralysed and exhausted.
I’m Yasmine, the Director of Emergency Programmes at Choose Love, and I’ve been working on our Sudan response for the last year and a half. If you’re feeling the weight of countless headlines and mind boggling, horrifying statistics, I’m right there with you. But I also want to tell you a bit more about the people behind those headlines and numbers, and remind you that even when it feels like we can’t, we can always make a difference. With my Sudanese heritage, the people of Sudan are close to my heart, and I hope that they can be close to yours too.
On the 15th of April 2023, after years of instability and tensions following a military coup in 2021 and widespread protests demanding a civilian government be put in place, conflict escalated into civil war. Clashes between the two military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began with terrifying violence and atrocities in the capital city of Khartoum, and soon spread across the country, leaving nobody safe.
The human rights violations that have been committed since then are too harrowing for me to describe here, but millions of people’s lives have been irreparably damaged. For those who have escaped the violence, this has at best meant being uprooted from their homes and forced to flee to a nearby town, where food is likely a scarce resource.
People in Sudan are dying of starvation, quickly. Pockets of famine were already identified, and without fast intervention experts say we are heading towards the worst global famine since the 80s. It seems absurd that this is possible in 2025.
So, why have things reached such a critical point in Sudan?
Some of it is to do with the ability to get humanitarian assistance into the right places, to make sure that people have food to eat, water to drink, treatments for disease and medical support for injuries. Though reaching people is never easy in the midst of a conflict, Sudan has been described “one of the most constrained humanitarian access contexts globally” The United Nations, and International NGOs alike have struggled to work across perpetually changing front lines, difficult terrain, attacks on humanitarian staff, and destroyed infrastructure such as main roads.
There have also been widespread communications blackouts as control over telecoms have shifted between the warring factions. Without a way for people to share and document what is happening on the ground, human rights abuses can, and continue to be rife. It has also disrupted many vital logistics in being able to coordinate the provision of humanitarian support. Without functioning messaging groups or access to banking apps, it’s much harder to deliver lifesaving supplies and services.
As a result, those leading the response are the Sudanese themselves. Whether through grassroots organisations such as women’s collectives, through mutual aid groups, or through a network of Emergency Response Rooms that coordinate assistance – Sudanese humanitarians have been working tirelessly for years, trying to meet the needs of those affected.
Unfortunately, they are fighting an uphill battle. International exposure in the media has been devastatingly minimal, and funding far below what’s needed – only worsened by recent cuts to international aid. The UN estimates that $4.16 billion is needed to meet the needs in Sudan in 2025. Their appeal is only 10% funded.
So, will a donation even make a difference when faced with such problems?
In short, yes.
At Choose Love, the way we work is by channeling the support from people around the world who care about people in pain, in fear and hunger, and who want to help to those working to provide it
My job in times like these is to reach out to local organisations, find out what work is happening, and how we can provide assistance – in the form of fast, flexible grants that give them the resources they need to get support to the people in their communities.
Our partners in Sudan are incredible. They work non-stop to provide a lifeline to people when they thought none was coming. That lifeline isn’t just a meal for someone who hasn’t eaten in days, or a roof over someone’s head when they’ve fled their home – it’s also hope. That there are people in the world who care about Sudan. That it isn’t invisible, and that we are finding ways to help.
Right now, our partner Malam is desperately trying to coordinate more distributions of millet to people fleeing El Fasher. We funded three of them, but we need to fundraise for more.
Our partner SAPA, are setting up health care services to treat people injured or harmed by violence, and try to treat the spread of deadly infectious diseases. With our support and that of others they’ve set up a pediatric ICU – only one of two in the country.
We can only keep supporting work like this with your support.
If you can, please consider donating today. Share our fundraising appeal to three friends or family members who you know will care about this crisis.
Take concrete action in these paralysing times.
I mean it when I say that anything you give will help.
Yasmine Colijn
Director of Emergency Programmes
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