Three years of war: This is NCA’s response in Sudan
In April, the war in Sudan will have lasted for three years. The needs are enormous, and Norwegian Church Aid is present with both emergency relief and long-term development.
NCA and our partners are present with humanitarian response in several parts of the country. This photo is from a hygiene kit distribution in Gedaref state.
After three years of war, the conflict in Sudan is still active and very intense along lines of control and around contested key cities, according to Dirk Hanekom, Country Director for Norwegian Church Aid in Sudan.
“Millions of people are still displaced by the conflict – many having been displaced several times – and thousands more are displaced or directly affected by conflict practically each and every day. Civilians, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian convoys and workers are targeted regularly. New weaponry, like drones, threatens peace and stability in areas far behind the front line”, Hanekom says.
Economic crisis
The civil war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023. Norwegian Church Aid has worked in Sudan for more than 50 years and has remained present in several parts of the country throughout the war, providing both emergency aid and long-term assistance, including through cooperation with local partner organizations.
During the war, more than 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes—most of them internally within Sudan, and more than four million to neighboring countries, according to the UN.
More than 21 million people are facing acute hunger, according to the UN. That is 45 percent of the population.
Over the three years the war has lasted, the nature of the conflict has also changed.
“As the war and territorial control shifts, we have seen some people displaced by conflict return to their homes. While some areas show remarkable signs of early recovery, many people return to homes that are looted and destroyed and areas littered with explosive
remnants of war, with no source of livelihood, and often with little or no access to services, including healthcare, water, or electricity”, says Hanekom.
Sudan is also facing a massive economic crisis, the country director explains.
“While some parts of the private sector are working hard to recover, the toll of the conflict and destruction is evident – hundreds of thousands of businesses and livelihoods have been destroyed in Khartoum alone, and the savings and assets of tens of millions of people were wiped out practically overnight. What is starting to become evident now is the depth of the economic crisis Sudan is in, and the difficulty of the path to recovery.”
Present in many locations
When the war broke out, Norwegian Church Aid had to evacuate from its country office in the capital, Khartoum. Since then, the organization has had its main office in Port Sudan, in the east of the country.
Norwegian Church Aid and our partners are present with humanitarian response in several parts of the country. Through our national partners, we work in some of the hardest to reach and conflict-affected areas in Sudan.
“Norwegian Church Aid works through our national partners to ensure access to clean water and services for survivors of sexual violence. We provide cash assistance to the most vulnerable families and facilitate income-generating activities so that people can buy what they need most. We also help stimulate food production by supporting small farmers to move beyond subsistence farming and sell their produce at markets,” Hanekom explains.
He adds that Sudan also still hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from other countries – people who previously sought refuge in Sudan because of conflicts in their home countries, and who are now trapped with nowhere to go.
“Over the last three years, as aid budgets were cut and resources dwindled, we saw a steady decline in aid and services to these refugees, with NCA being one of the last NGOs to provide services in the camps where we work”, says Dirk Hanekom.
NCA Sudan receives support from Norway and other donors. You can read more about our donors here.
