A $1.6 billion appeal has been launched under the 2026 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRRP) to deliver lifesaving assistance to 5.9 million people affected by the ongoing Sudan war across seven neighbouring countries.
The plan targets refugees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda, which continue to absorb millions fleeing violence in Sudan.
The conflict erupted in mid-April 2023, when Sudan’s national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) became locked in a brutal power struggle.
Nearly three years later, Sudan is described as the world’s largest displacement and humanitarian crisis.
Mamadou Dian Balde, Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the need for a fourth consecutive annual appeal highlights both the relentless impact of the war and the strain on humanitarian operations.
“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.
The 2026 plan prioritizes assistance for an estimated 470,000 new refugees expected to cross into neighbouring countries this year, as well as thousands stranded in border areas with only basic support. Overall, some 4.3 million Sudanese refugees are currently displaced across the region, most of them in Egypt and eastern Chad.
As fighting continues inside Sudan, essential services have collapsed and humanitarian access remains restricted in many areas, pushing more people to flee each week.
“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,” Balde said.
Host countries, he added, are under mounting pressure.
“While host governments and local communities continue to demonstrate remarkable solidarity, their capacity is being pushed to the brink,” he said.
In Egypt, which hosts 1.4 million Sudanese refugees, registered figures have nearly quadrupled since 2023.
However, severe funding cuts have forced UNHCR to close two of its three registration centres, affecting access to protection services. Funding per refugee per month has dropped from $11 to $4.
In eastern Chad, more than 71,000 refugee families have not received housing assistance, leaving them without safe shelter.
“Nearly 234,000 people are awaiting relocation, living in precarious conditions at the border,” Balde noted.
Meanwhile in Uganda, clinic closures and the suspension of key nutrition programmes in Kiryandongo settlement have increased health risks for thousands of Sudanese refugees.
Despite shrinking resources, the 2026 appeal seeks to sustain food assistance, shelter, healthcare and protection services for both new arrivals and the most vulnerable refugees, while also supporting overstretched host communities.
However, Balde warned that without urgent international support, the situation could deteriorate further.
“The widening gap between rising needs and shrinking resources threatens to undermine both emergency response efforts and medium-term solutions,” he said.
UNHCR is calling on donors to respond to the $1.6 billion appeal to prevent further strain on host countries and ensure continued protection and assistance for millions displaced by Sudan’s ongoing conflict.
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