The United Nations (UN) announced on Wednesday that it needs USD 4.1 billion in 2024 to provide humanitarian assistance to the population in Sudan, which is experiencing a civil war, and to refugees from there in neighboring countries.

Martin Griffiths, the United Nations Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, said in a statement, “We need a coordinated and well-funded response to address the immediate needs of those affected, while also investing in longer-term solutions to build resilience and support recovery.”

Since April 15th, 2023, fighting has been ongoing in Sudan between forces loyal to Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Diplomatic efforts to reach peace negotiations have so far failed.

Over months, the fighting has spread to Gezira State, which was considered the country's breadbasket before the war, and hunger has spared no one, with around 18 million people throughout the country currently facing a severe crisis, according to the UN.

In West Darfur, a child dies every two hours in the Zamzam displaced persons camp, the largest and oldest in the country, housing an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

Sudan, considered among the poorest countries in the world, around 25 million people, equivalent to half the population, need humanitarian aid to survive.

Three-quarters of health facilities in conflict-affected Sudanese states have been put out of service, while diseases such as cholera, measles, and malaria are spreading.

The violence has caused more than 1.5 million people to flee and seek refuge in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, which had already received large numbers of refugees before the war.

The United Nations says it needs USD 4.1 billion this year, including USD 2.7 billion to assist 14.7 million people in Sudan.

Griffiths stressed that the generosity of donors helps the UN provide food, shelter, drinking water, and education for children, as well as combating gender-based violence and caring for survivors, adding that "only half of last year's appeal was funded, and this year we must provide more and more urgently" to meet humanitarian needs inside Sudan.

Of the required amount, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees needs an additional USD 1.4 billion to enable it to provide assistance to approximately 2.7 million refugees in host countries.

High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in the statement, "I have just met with displaced families in Ethiopia and inside Sudan - they have lost so much." He added, "I urgently request the international community to increase its support for the Sudanese people. They urgently need assistance, and they need it now."