IRC’s 2024 Emergency Watchlist identified Sudan as the humanitarian crisis most at risk of deteriorating this year. In response to the lack of attention on the crisis, the IRC has released a mid-year Crisis Alert on Sudan. The new report illustrates the trajectory of a country in freefall. Without a shift in the international approach from inertia to action, Sudan risks being torn apart by the conflict, with dire implications for millions of civilians, and regional security. Sudan is already the world’s worst displacement crisis and is rapidly becoming the world’s worst hunger crisis as well. 

The alert highlights how military decision makers, regional powers, and the international community have all failed the people of Sudan, resulting in an ever-worsening humanitarian catastrophe that has left more than half the population – nearly 25 million people – in need of humanitarian aid. It analyses why the conflict has continued to escalate and spread, outlines how severe constraints on humanitarian access contribute to a response that is failing to meet needs, and provides recommendations to drive an urgently needed diplomatic and humanitarian course correction. The report pushes for tilting of scales towards peace, not more war, and an overall reset of the humanitarian response.