Belgium supports the suffering Sudanese population

The bloody civil war in Sudan has become the world's largest humanitarian crisis. In order to respond to the immense humanitarian needs in Sudan, €5 million in aid will be mobilised over a period of two years. Our Humanitarian Aid department is monitoring the situation closely.

Although media attention on Sudan has waned, the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary army, has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis today, with more than 30 million Sudanese in need of emergency assistance.
 

12 million forcibly displaced

Since 2023, heavy fighting has been raging, and once again, civilians are paying a high price. Indeed, the country had already experienced a bloody war that led to the secession of South Sudan.

Nearly 150,000 people have already lost their lives since the beginning of this conflict, although this figure is likely to be underestimated. In addition to armed violence, the population is also facing an epidemic of cholera, malaria and food insecurity. 30 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, and more than 12 million have been forcibly displaced within the country but also in neighboring countries, where nearly 4 million Sudanese have fled.
 

Belgium, a humanitarian partner committed to Sudan through multilateral funds

On a visit to Ethiopia where he visited a settlement site for Sudanese refugees, minister of Foreign affairs Maxime Prévot was able to witness for himself the precarious living conditions. To meet the immense humanitarian needs, the minister decided to release 5 million euros for 2025-2026 to contribute to the Sudan humanitarian fund.

This multilateral fund is a Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF) managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This type of financial mechanism allows for the rapid allocation of funds to international and local humanitarian partner organizations on the ground.

With this decision, Belgium reaffirms its humanitarian commitment to Sudan, where our country was already taking part in the humanitarian effort by being one of the 10 main contributors to the CERF, a global emergency fund for which Sudan was the main beneficiary in 2024-2025. But we also continually supported UN humanitarian and non-governmental organisations present in Sudan since the beginning of the conflict (ICRC, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF). Our contribution to the CERF will also be increased by 3 million euros in 2025. These contributions enable humanitarian organizations to meet the basic needs of affected populations, such as food aid, equipment and shelter, as well as access to water and hygiene.

Given the scale of the crisis, our humanitarian service will continue to monitor the situation closely.