As the conflict in Sudan continues into its third month, it is understandable that this Sudan Humanitarian Pledging Conference focuses on mobilising urgent life-saving assistance to address escalating needs.

But as experience shows, for such assistance to be most cost-effective and sustainable, it must be complemented by life-sustaining activities, which also lay foundations for eventual recovery.

Sudan’s conflict has taken a massive human toll, destroying public infrastructure and basic services, separating families, and adding massive pressures on host communities. 

It exacerbated decades-long of fragility, exclusion, and dependence on humanitarian aid. In 2020, the Human Development Index for Sudan was 0.51, ranking Sudan at 170 out of 188 countries. 

UN Development Challenges Index places Sudan 8th worst globally due to the collapse of basic services, environmental degradation, and poor governance, all further compounded by conflict. 

Building on our track record in providing integrated solutions in conflict situations, as part of humanitarian assistance, UNDP’s Sudan Emergency Community Stabilization Offer will provide supplies, livelihoods, and jobs to help safeguard socio-economic progress, while also addressing underlying development deficits that cause conflict.  It will focus on:

Access to healthcare: Disruptions of supply chains of essential medicines and materials expose people with chronic diseases to life threatening situations. Before the conflict, UNDP supplied 100% of insulin and half of dialysis kits in the country. UNDP with the Global Fund has been supporting the HIV and TB national programs.

Expanding essential services, such as solar powered water systems to accommodate the massive influx of displaced populations into host communities. This will not only provide access to clean water, but also help lessen tensions between displaced and host communities. 

Enabling continuity of agricultural production to prevent further deterioration of food security. Since 2022, we have been a significant food security actor in Sudan supporting 6M farmers across 9 states. We are quickly scaling up this support.

Ensuring access to energy in the face of power supply disruptions and increasing fuel prices. We will scale up solar systems that we have been delivering since 2019, to 30,000 households benefitting 150,000 people.

Access to emergency employment for families that have lost their livelihoods and productive assets to enable them to meet basic needs—also helping sustain small businesses, especially in the construction sector. 

Addressing unexploded ordnance due to heavy airstrikes and artillery in densely populated urban areas, to ensure protection and improve access to humanitarian services.

As the conflict in Sudan continues to unfold, UNDP calls on the international community to prioritize now, not later, life-sustaining investments and activities, to help all Sudanese get back on their own feet with dignity and agency.

These will go hand in hand with humanitarian and peace responses from the onset and may be the best safeguard of the sustainability of emergence from the crisis.