An aid group has warned that two-thirds of the country’s population now needs aid as the war has resulted in hunger and disease
Sudan has topped the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Emergency Watchlist for global humanitarian crises for a third straight year, the aid group said on Tuesday.
The 2026 watchlist highlights 20 countries most at risk of worsening humanitarian emergencies in the year ahead. Sudan ranks first, followed by the Palestinian territories and South Sudan. Other African nations in the list include Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
The report says 33.7 million people in Sudan, including 15 million children, now require humanitarian assistance, representing about 67% of the country’s population.
The country is facing severe food shortages, with 19.2 million people experiencing acute food insecurity and 207,000 living in catastrophic hunger. Since December 2024, Sudan has recorded more than 100,000 suspected cholera cases – the largest outbreak in its history, according to the data.
Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal conflict for more than two years.
“Sudan is now the third most dangerous country for aid workers, accounting for 12% of attacks against aid workers globally in 2025,” the report said.
On Sunday, six peacekeepers were killed in a drone strike on a UN logistics base in Sudan’s South Kordofan state. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that “attacks targeting UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.”
There have been widespread attacks on civilian infrastructure. On Wednesday, Guterres stated on X that the World Health Organization (WHO) “has documented 65 attacks on health care with more than 1,600 killed and 276 injured.”
Economic collapse has compounded the suffering. According to Sudanese Human Resources and Social Welfare Minister Mutasim Ahmed Sale, the national poverty rate has soared to 71% from about 21% before the conflict, leaving an estimated 23 million people below the poverty line.
Since fighting erupted in 2023, UN agencies estimate that more than 12 million people have been displaced inside the country, while millions more have fled across borders to neighboring states. UN figures put the death toll at more than 40,000, although humanitarian organizations warn that the true number is likely higher due to limited access and underreporting.
