Brussels, Belgium, 26 March 2026 — As Senior Officials meet in Brussels this week to discuss the ongoing crisis in Sudan, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is calling on decision-makers to urgently step up their efforts to protect civilians, and ensure that aid can reach all those who need it.
In the nearly three years since war broke out in Sudan, it has become the largest humanitarian and displacement crisis on record, with the country’s population facing widespread violence and famine-level hunger.
Hunger is continuing to escalate with more than 200,000 people facing catastrophic (IPC 5) levels of food insecurity between October 2025 and January 2026. In parts of Sudan, people are starving to death every day. However, rather than sparking political and funding responses, the latest IPC report suggests that the worsening conditions are being driven by funding shortfalls and a near-total absence of access to critically-affected areas. It is becoming harder than ever to ensure aid reaches the people who need it most, with bureaucratic requirements often resulting in aid deliveries being delayed by up to six weeks.
Meanwhile, violence continues to escalate, with humanitarian workers and civilians killed and healthcare facilities attacked or damaged in ongoing clashes.
At this year’s Senior Officials Meeting in Brussels, it’s essential that the international community agrees on a path forward for the response to the crisis in Sudan in order to guarantee humanitarian access, protect civilians, scale up diplomacy, and ramp up flexible funding - ensuring that at least 25% of their funding for Sudan goes as directly as possible to local and national NGOs, including women-led organisations.
Zeleka Bacha, Acting Sudan Country Director with the International Rescue Committee says:
“Almost three years of conflict, economic collapse and a lack of humanitarian access has pushed millions of people in Sudan into catastrophic humanitarian conditions. Many families are now surviving day by day, often on one meal or less, with women and children - as ever - being hit hardest.
“What is most painful is that this suffering is visible everywhere. In towns and villages, in the clinics that can no longer cope, and in the growing number of people arriving with nothing after being forced from their homes.
“Yet despite these escalating needs, funding for the crisis is shrinking, with many humanitarian projects funded by the United States due to come to an end in the next few months, with uncertainty about whether funding will help keep them up and running.
“As policymakers meet in Brussels this week, this must be a turning point. It’s a golden opportunity to significantly ramp up funding to close the gaps that are already costing lives, guarantee unfettered humanitarian access, increase diplomatic and peacebuilding efforts, and better protect the civilians who are bearing the brunt of this worsening humanitarian catastrophe.”
About the IRC in Sudan
The IRC has operated in Sudan for decades and dramatically expanded its response since the war erupted in April 2023. We provide health, nutrition, water and sanitation, protection, and economic recovery services, including through mobile clinics and partnerships with local organisations across Darfur, Blue Nile, Gedaref, Gerzira, South Kordofan, White Nile, River Nile and Port Sudan. Our teams continue to push into the hardest‑hit and hardest‑to‑reach areas, despite immense risks.