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Humanitarian officials estimate that Sudan needs $2.7 billion in humanitarian assistance this year. Only 18% has been raised.

Each and every day, news services carry heartbreaking stories of conflict and crisis throughout the world. The Israel-Hamas war has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands in urgent need of humanitarian relief in the Middle East. Russia鈥檚 brutal war in Ukraine has displaced 10.2 million and left 14.6 million  in need of assistance across Europe. Criminal gangs control  of Haiti鈥檚 capital city and there are an estimated  people in need.

But somehow, what may be the world鈥檚 worst humanitarian crisis has received very little media attention. Sudan doesn鈥檛 have the same diaspora connections as Europe and the Middle East. It isn鈥檛 close to our shores like Haiti. But on the list of highest levels of human suffering鈥攁 list nobody wants to be on鈥攊t might just top them all.

Sudan is the site of the world鈥檚  displacement crisis. According to the 2023  by the UN鈥檚 refugee agency, Sudan hosts 9.1 million internally displaced people鈥攖he highest number ever recorded in one country. Of the 1.8 million refugees who have left the country, 6 out of 7 are being hosted in neighboring countries like Chad and South Sudan, which are suffering their own hunger and poverty crises. 

More than  in Sudan (14 million of whom are children) are in need of humanitarian assistance鈥攎ore than Ukraine, Gaza, and Haiti combined. Combined. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell  in June that 9 million children in Sudan regularly don鈥檛 get enough to eat, and nearly 4 million face acute malnutrition. UNICEF warned that around  could die there in the coming months. 

What the crisis in Sudan has in common with Ukraine and Gaza is that it didn鈥檛 have to happen. The crisis is entirely human caused, and greed driven. It鈥檚 about power, plain and simple. 

Sudan is entering the second year of a gruesome civil war, the third civil war since its independence in 1956. Two rival armed factions鈥攖he Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)鈥攁re engaged in a power struggle for control of the state and its resources, abandoning all of the plans for civilian leadership and national elections agreed to in a . Fighting began in the capital of Khartoum in April 2023, and has spread rapidly across the country, thus far killing almost  and injuring well over 30,000. The hostilities have also made the day-to-day of humanitarian officials extremely perilous. The UN World Food Program recently reported that armed gangs had attacked a food convoy heading for the country鈥檚 Darfur region.

Since the beginning of the civil war, the SAF and RSF have entered into several US- and Saudi-led peace negotiations to broker a ceasefire, all of which failed. Influence from actors鈥攊ncluding Iran and militia/mercenaries formerly known as the Wagner Group鈥攈as only added fuel to the fire. Outside groups are arming each side of the conflict seemingly to enhance their own leverage, which has also worked to delay any cessation of fighting. Speaking at the 浪花直播 Center, which hosts the Sudans Working Group, US Special Envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello emphasized in May that the perspectives of Sudanese civilians, rather than generals or externals actors, are critical to the viability of any lasting peace agreement. 

But if the most tragic part of the crisis in Sudan is that it was unnecessary and avoidable, then its most shameful element is how little the world seems to care. In April 2024, one year after fighting broke out, representatives of the world鈥檚 leading economies convened in Paris to garner support for the Sudanese people. They pledged  in humanitarian relief for Sudan following an appeal from the United Nations for $2.7 billion. But as of June 2024, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported just 鈥�17.9% of that $2.7 billion鈥攈ad come in. Of the $485 million received for Sudan,  comes from the US, with the European Commission and several European countries making up most of the remaining amount. 

The fact that the US accounts for such a large percentage of the assistance going to Sudan shouldn鈥檛 come as a surprise. In 2022, the US alone accounted for 39% of all global financial humanitarian assistance. As I noted in a previous Stubborn Things (Humanitarian Need and Response Patterns), there is one painfully obvious question: In times of crisis, where are some of the world鈥檚 largest economies and aspiring hegemons, namely China and Russia, who barely contribute any humanitarian assistance?  In the  of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 鈥淚t is time for everyone, everyone, to step up.鈥�

But there鈥檚 another question that鈥檚 painfully obvious. Why aren鈥檛 the people of Sudan鈥攊nnocent victims of yet another civil war鈥攔eceiving the same attention as others?

This blog was researched and drafted with the help of Camilla Reitherman. 

To learn more about how the development community can help address the long-term needs of those displaced in places like Sudan, watch Ambassador Mark A. Green鈥檚 remarks at the 2024 annual conference of the Society for International Development.