Authored by: Mohammed Idriss, Alight Sudan Executive Director, August 2025
In Sudan, fighting between rival armed forces continues to displace hundreds of thousands in the third year of a brutal civil war. More than 30 million people—over half the population—urgently need assistance. Entire cities have emptied. Famine has been declared. The health system has collapsed. A deadly cholera outbreak killed 1,700 people in a single month, with over 80,000 cases registered to date across the country.
The world’s largest humanitarian crisis is becoming even more dire as Sudan enters its rainy season. The forecasts through October threaten floods that could cut off road access, disrupt aid delivery, and worsen deadly disease outbreaks. Nearly 500,000 people were affected by floods last year. This year could be worse.
Despite all of this, humanitarian funding remains below 20% of what’s needed.
Why does it feel like philanthropy is turning away at the moment of greatest need?
As the Executive Director of Alight Sudan, the past three years have been amongst the most challenging in my life. With more than 1,200 local staff across the country, we’re working every day to sustain one of the largest humanitarian operations in the world’s worst crisis. Despite the challenges, we have not closed a single clinic since the war began. In fact, we’ve expanded—opening new facilities in areas no one else can reach.
For me and my colleagues, this crisis is not abstract. Like every Sudanese family, mine has suffered deeply. I lost my home. I lost my brother. My family fled with nothing but the clothes on our backs, thinking we’d return in a few days. We never have.
We do this work because our people are still here, and as the world turns a blind eye to their pain, they are counting on us. Our presence to the people we serve matters, and we meet their needs with hope and empathy. Since the start of the war in April 2023, we have helped more than 395,000 people get access to healthcare; more than 243,000 get access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services; and 163,000 children, pregnant and lactating women receive nutrition services.
We are doing everything we can to help the people of Sudan. But our efforts so far have been a drop in an ocean of suffering—one now rising with floodwaters. We cannot continue to do this alone. Sudan needs urgent and sustained funding, particularly for organizations providing immediate life-saving aid while also investing in community-led solutions for long-term recovery and growth.
Every day, I receive security updates: colleagues trapped, facilities attacked, team members grieving new losses. And every day, I see those same colleagues come back to work. They continue—not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. While the world may not have to face this war, we cannot look away.
I meet mothers who walk hundreds of kilometers with malnourished children to reach one of our stabilization centers. Some haven’t eaten a full meal in a year. One woman, after her children were admitted, told me: “I finally feel okay. At least now I can get them help.”
She had nothing—but she had hope. And if she can hold onto it, so can we.
Alight’s work is grounded in optimism, shared leadership, and the belief that people closest to crisis are best equipped to lead the response. In Sudan, we remind each other to “do the doable,” every day, because that’s what this moment demands.
But doing the doable requires resources.
This is a call to philanthropists, funders, and institutions: Sudan needs massive and continued aid. War, famine, and killings are already devastating the country; now, months of flooding make an unbearable situation even worse. This is one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time, and yet one of the most grievously underreported. It’s heartbreaking to watch global attention fade while our situation gets worse and worse.
Sudan is a country with a history of rising up from hardships. Even as cities fall silent, communities rise. Even as clinics go dark, neighbors light the way. Even when despair seems overwhelming, we continue—because hope lives here. But hope alone cannot feed starving children, or treat sick mothers, or rebuild essential facilities.
The people of Sudan have shown extraordinary resilience, but they cannot survive without your help. This crisis requires immediate, sustained funding from the philanthropic sector and a bold response from the international community.
The needs are great, but so is our collective power to respond. With the right support, Sudan can move from the brink of despair toward a future defined not by war, but by recovery, dignity, and hope. I invite you – I implore you – to invest in getting us there.
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