The 2026 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) aims to provide life-saving assistance this year to 5.9 million individuals across seven neighboring countries: the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan, and Uganda. The plan will continue to prioritize aid for approximately 470,000 new refugees expected to enter these nations, as well as thousands more who remain in border areas and have received only the most basic support.
World’s Largest Displacement Crisis
The conflict in Sudan erupted in mid-April 2023, sparking a severe power struggle between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, stated that the necessity for a fourth annual appeal highlights the war’s persistent impact and a humanitarian response struggling to keep pace. “Sudan remains the world’s largest displacement and worst humanitarian crisis, unfolding in the wake of the most severe global funding crunch in decades,” he told journalists in Geneva. As fighting persists in various parts of the country, essential services have collapsed, and humanitarian access remains restricted in many regions. “Thousands of people continue to flee across borders each week, often arriving in already vulnerable yet generous regions, where public services and economic opportunities were limited even before the crisis,” he added.
Host Communities Pushed to the Brink
Approximately 4.3 million Sudanese refugees are displaced within the region, with the majority located in Egypt and eastern Chad. Mr. Balde noted that “while host governments and local communities continue to demonstrate remarkable solidarity, their capacity is being pushed to the brink.” Egypt currently hosts 1.4 million Sudanese who have fled the war, and registered refugee figures have nearly quadrupled since 2023. “Yet severe funding cuts have forced UNHCR to close two of its three registration centres, affecting people’s access to critical protection services,” he said. Furthermore, the available funding per refugee per month has decreased from $11 to $4. In eastern Chad, over 71,000 refugee families have not received housing assistance, leaving them without safe and adequate shelter. “Nearly 234,000 people are awaiting relocation, living in precarious conditions at the border,” he reported. Meanwhile, in Uganda, clinic closures and the suspension of critical nutrition programs in the Kiryandongo settlement place thousands of Sudanese refugees at a heightened risk of diseases.
Rising Needs, Shrinking Resources
Mr. Balde emphasized that despite these challenges, the 2026 plan “will continue to support host countries in providing critical basic services, including food, shelter, healthcare and protection services for new arrivals and the most vulnerable refugees.” He cautioned, however, that “the widening gap between rising needs and shrinking resources threatens to undermine both emergency response efforts and medium-term solutions.” In the interim, UNHCR continues to appeal for increased international support to address the persistent underfunding of humanitarian operations in countries hosting those fleeing Sudan.
