Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (August 2025)

HIGHLIGHTS

Conflict-related violence and attacks on aid workers remain major constraints on humanitarian access in Sudan. In North Darfur, Al Fasher remains under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Despite sustained high-level engagement, no agreement has been reached to allow humanitarian access, and no aid convoy has entered the city since the beginning of the year.
On 20 August, a humanitarian convoy offloading food supplies in Mellit, North Darfur, was struck by drone attacks, destroying three UN fleet trucks. This followed an earlier assault on 1 June, when a joint humanitarian convoy near Al-Koma, also in North Darfur, was attacked, leaving five aid workers dead and
multiple aid trucks destroyed.

On 16 August, a grenade explosion forced medical organisation MSF to suspend its operations in Zalingei Teaching Hospital, Central Darfur, amid a cholera outbreak. The suspension, which lasted two weeks, came while the hospital was central to cholera outbreak response. On 30 August, an airstrike hit a clinic in Nyala, South Darfur, killing and injuring dozens of civilians and patients.
Volunteers with mutual aid groups continue to face arbitrary arrest, detention and abuse. In August alone, incidents of violence against volunteer aid workers were reported in Khartoum, East Darfur and North Darfur.

Ongoing hostilities also complicate the movement of humanitarian convoys nationwide. Nevertheless, life-saving assistance recently reached Dilling and Kadugli in South Kordofan, the first significant convoy to access those towns in over a year.

In Khartoum, where aid operations are scaling up in response to a cholera outbreak and the large return of internally displaced people, bureaucratic hurdles severely undermine humanitarian activities. Partners must obtain multiple travel, entry and exit permits at both federal and state levels, requiring stamps from
several authorities. These procedures can take weeks, significantly delaying operations.

Another concern is the requirement for Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) state officials to accompany routine response activities. These costs are not foreseen in technical agreements and divert scarce resources away from vulnerable conflict-affected people. The Sudan Joint Operating Principles (JOPs), a set of common standards for principled and effective humanitarian action, underline that humanitarian actors will refuse requests from those engaged the conflict to use humanitarian assets.

Seasonal conditions are adding to the challenges. Heavy rains have rendered the road between Nyala and East Darfur impassable, compounding access constraints in West Kordofan and other areas.