Sudan

Sudan Emergency

19 April 2023 Sudan Responding

Violence has engulfed Sudan, displacing millions and leaving cities, homes and lives in ruins.

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Communities across Africa have been left devastated by heavy flooding. Our teams are on the ground providing critical support to individuals and families in need.

Donating to the Global Emergencies Fund enables Islamic Relief to respond quickly, even if there is little news coverage of the emergency.

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Sudan is in a state of national emergency following the ongoing devastation caused by flooding. To date, 99 people have been killed with 46 more injured. Over 100,000 homes have been damaged and overall, more than 500,000 people affected.

Heavy seasonal rains – mainly in neighbouring Ethiopia – have triggered the flooding, which has caused the River Nile to rise to its highest level in 100 years. The states of Khartoum, Blue Nile, River Nile, Gezira, West Kordofan and South Darfur are amongst the worst hit.

The situation in Sudan

Years of conflict and natural disasters have devastated communities in Sudan.

73%

of the population do not have access to adequate sanitary facilities (UNICEF, 2017)

7 out of 100

children do not reach their 5th birthday (World Bank, 2016)

1/3

of young people cannot read or write (UNESCO, 2008)

27%

of children do not attend primary school (UNICEF, 2017)

Islamic Relief in Sudan

In 1983, a devastating famine struck the western region of Sudan. Islamic Relief was founded in 1984, with several of our earliest projects focused on easing suffering in Sudan. In 1993 we opened our first office in the country in Khartoum. Islamic Relief established a training centre in Elobied, which later became our first field office in Sudan. The centre provided computer and English language training to many people, helping them to improve their lives and careers.

After 22 years of operation in Sudan, Islamic Relief now works in 7 states, including North, West, and South Kordofan, Blue Nile State, Gadaref State, and Central Darfur State. Due to the current crisis, we have temporarily moved our country office from Khartoum to Gadaref. Islamic Relief Sudan’s many projects include an orphan sponsorship programme which began in 1991, and a nutrition programme supporting an orphanage, which was funded by the World Food Programme in 1996.

Islamic Relief in action

In 1995, Islamic Relief built a school in Mayo area in Khartoum. At the time, displaced families faced dire living conditions on the outskirts of the city, where there was a lack of basic infrastructure for children.

Building Alnasr Basic School marked the beginning of Islamic Reliefs’ long-term commitment to improving access to education and empowering the most vulnerable communities in Sudan. Since then, we have built and improved hundreds of schools across Sudan, enabling thousands of children to gain an education. As part of this, thousands of crisis-affected children continued learning and psychosocial healing using several Child Friendly Spaces; and Islamic Relief also trained several school committees made up of parents and teachers.

Image: A lady receives a desperately-needed food parcel from Islamic Relief.

Latest from Sudan

Press release

19 December 2023

Five days of heavy fighting has forced Islamic Relief and many other aid agencies to temporarily halt humanitarian work there and evacuate some staff out of the city.

Press release