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Sudan appeal · Published 28 July 2026 · Updated 11 August 2026

Hunger and displacement are accelerating

El Obeid is running out of food, water and time.

Families fleeing violence are arriving every day. Camps are beyond capacity, essential supplies are scarce, and life-saving nutrition stocks could begin running out in August.

Give urgent support See the verified facts

The emergency in numbers

This crisis is deepening now

These figures come from the World Food Programme’s 17 July 2026 update for El Obeid and nearby districts. They are presented with dates and named sources so donors can understand the evidence.

400,000

people in emergency hunger

Nearly 400,000 people across Sheikan, Bara and Gharb Bara districts are already experiencing IPC Phase 4 acute food insecurity.

200,000

missed life-saving food

WFP estimates that active conflict prevented assistance from reaching 200,000 people in Sudan during June alone.

August

nutrition stocks start running out

Specialised food for preventing and treating malnutrition is expected to begin running out without new funding and access.

Why help now

A city under unbearable pressure

El Obeid is receiving families displaced from across Kordofan and as far away as Darfur. WFP says the arrivals may have doubled the city’s population, while food, fuel and water supplies are scarce and humanitarian movement is constrained by clashes, drone strikes and insecurity.

ICRC and Sudan Red Crescent teams reported providing a month’s worth of food to more than 42,000 people in Al Obeid and described rising needs after the escalation of hostilities. UNICEF has warned that children across Sudan are bearing a growing toll and called the situation around El Obeid particularly alarming.

Read the Aid News report on the El Obeid hunger crisis for the event-level hunger, displacement and response record.

Delay has consequences. When access closes and stocks are exhausted, children already facing malnutrition and families forced from their homes lose the support that keeps an emergency from becoming an even greater catastrophe.
  • Reliable food and nutrition support
  • Safe water and essential household supplies
  • Protection and support for displaced families
  • Humanitarian access and functioning supply routes
  • Verified information for responders and the public

Crisis timeline

How the emergency around El Obeid has developed

Verified events are kept in reverse chronological order. Older entries remain visible so changes in the emergency can be followed over time.

  1. Satellite analysis shows the main displacement camp expanding

    BBC Verify reported that hundreds of tents appeared between 24 March and 19 July. An unnamed Islamic Relief humanitarian official told BBC Verify that roughly 80 to 100 households were still arriving each day. These are secondary observations, not a new UN displacement count.

    Source: BBC Verify

  2. Women and girls face danger while collecting water

    UN Women described attacks near water sources and estimated about 500,000 civilians in El Obeid, including 83,000 internally displaced people. UNFPA separately recorded 21 drone-related incidents in North Kordofan from 1 to 19 July.

    Sources: UN Geneva briefing and UNFPA flash update

  3. Nearly 400,000 people face emergency hunger

    WFP said people across Sheikan, Bara and Gharb Bara districts were experiencing IPC Phase 4 acute food insecurity. WFP was assisting just over 100,000 people in El Obeid at half rations.

    Source: World Food Programme

  4. More than 5,500 children are newly displaced

    Save the Children said 11,000 people had been displaced around El Obeid in the preceding two weeks, including more than 5,500 children.

    Source: Save the Children

  5. More than 42,000 people receive one month of food

    ICRC and Sudan Red Crescent teams distributed food in Al Obeid. ICRC also said the city’s teaching hospital had treated more than 850 weapon-wounded patients since the start of 2026.

    Source: International Committee of the Red Cross

  6. Sudan-wide hunger reaches extreme levels

    IPC estimated that nearly 19.5 million people across the areas analysed faced Crisis-level hunger or worse. Its famine-risk areas were outside North Kordofan, so this does not establish famine in El Obeid.

    Source: Integrated Food Security Phase Classification

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What this campaign does and does not promise

Urgency should never come at the expense of honesty. This page separates verified crisis facts from AidWorkers.com’s own role.

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  • Monitoring and publishing verified Sudan emergency information.
  • Practical crisis, preparedness and field-focused resources.
  • Due diligence, coordination and response-readiness work.
  • Authorised direct or partner support connected to the emergency where feasible and properly controlled.

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  • That AidWorkers.com is a UN agency or is endorsed by a source named below.
  • That a gift has reached Sudan or a named organisation unless that transfer is confirmed.
  • That changing conditions or estimates are permanent facts.

Check the evidence

Sources used for this appeal

The crisis wording and figures were checked against reputable humanitarian sources before publication and during each dated update.

  • World Food ProgrammeEl Obeid displacement and hunger update · 17 July 2026
  • International Committee of the Red Cross42,000 people assisted with food in Al Obeid · 2 July 2026
  • UNICEFEscalating toll on children across Sudan · 6 July 2026
  • BBC VerifySatellite analysis and field reporting from El Obeid · 29 July 2026
  • United Nations GenevaUN Women briefing on displacement and risks facing women and girls · 24 July 2026
  • UNFPAEl Obeid and North Kordofan flash update · reporting period through 19 July 2026
  • Save the ChildrenNew displacement around El Obeid · 7 July 2026
  • Integrated Food Security Phase ClassificationSudan acute food insecurity analysis and projections · May 2026
Is this a WFP, UNICEF, ICRC or IPC appeal?

No. This is an independent AidWorkers.com campaign. Those organisations are cited only as sources for the humanitarian facts and are not presented as partners or recipients.

Will every donation be sent directly to Sudan?

No such claim is made. The campaign supports AidWorkers.com’s Sudan-related humanitarian purposes, including verified public information, practical resources, response readiness and authorised direct or partner support where feasible. Any confirmed transfer or delivery should be reported separately and transparently.

Why can the figures change?

Conflict, access and displacement change quickly. The figures on this page are dated, attributed to their named source, and should be reviewed whenever the appeal is materially updated.

First published: . Last fact-checked: .