The United Nations estimates that more than $3 billion is needed in humanitarian aid and for refugees in Sudan, where heavy fighting has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis since mid-April.
According to revised estimates, the UN needs 2.6 billion dollars for humanitarian aid alone; in December the organization had demanded 1.75 billion dollars.
According to Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Division, these funds should allow organizations responsible for humanitarian aid to treat the approximately 18 million most vulnerable people in the country.
The UN is asking for $470.4 million for refugees fleeing the fighting and expects up to 1.1 million people to leave Sudan this year.
“Today, 25 million people — more than half of Sudan’s population — are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection,” Rajasingham told reporters.
Fighting between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane’s army and General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries, which began on April 15, left around a thousand dead and a million displaced and refugees in Sudan.
The fighting has worsened the humanitarian situation in the country, where one in three people was dependent on humanitarian aid even before the war.
Two weeks ago, the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, estimated that “more than 800,000 people” could flee deadly fighting in Sudan.
“To date, the crisis that began a month ago has resulted in a mass exodus of around 220,000 refugees to neighboring countries,” UNHCR official Raouf Mazou told reporters.
At the same time, more than 700,000 people were displaced in Sudan. “Countless people remain trapped in Sudan, innocent victims of this indiscriminate fighting,” he added.