UN says struggling to help millions fleeing Sudan war find shelter

GENEVA — United Nations officials warned on Friday that millions of people displaced by the ongoing war in Sudan risk running out of shelter.

With a three‑year civil conflict, the UN estimates that 15.4 million individuals require emergency shelter and essential household items.

Yet funding constraints have limited the agency’s ability to reach only a tenth of those in need, leaving 900,000 people uncovered.

Mohamed Refaat, chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration in Sudan, said the organization’s warehouse stocks are now empty, and that a situation where families urgently need shelter will soon emerge.

The fighting, which has been raging since April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces and the regular army, has claimed more than 200,000 lives and has ignited the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.

Approximately 8.6 million people still reside inside the country, while millions have crossed borders and others have returned home to find homes and services destroyed.

Since the start of the year, the UN agency has distributed over 40,000 tents.

“Our warehouses are completely empty now,” he told reporters in Geneva, speaking from Khartoum.

“We could soon reach a point where families desperately need shelter but there is simply nothing left.”

In a joint statement, UNHCR and IOM said that for those returning home, getting help to find shelter is often the first step toward rebuilding their lives.

However, only one‑third of the $179 million needed this year for shelter provision has been funded, according to Abubakarr Jalloh, UNHCR’s deputy representative in Sudan.

The agencies reported that less than half of the $2.9 billion needed for Sudan’s overall humanitarian aid plan has been secured.

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