North Kordofan hosts 105,000 displaced people in camps, official says
July 24, 2026 (EL OBEID) – Sudan’s North Kordofan state is hosting more than 21,000 displaced families across eight camps, the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) said on Friday, as aid agencies work to step up relief operations ahead of the rainy season.
Mohamed Ismail, the state’s humanitarian aid commissioner, said the camps house roughly 105,000 displaced individuals. About 7,100 families—including 21,726 children—are living in the unified camp in El Obeid, the largest facility in the state capital.
Previous estimates from HAC placed the total number of displaced persons in North Kordofan at nearly 1.3 million, living in both designated camps and host communities.
Ismail met with a joint delegation from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to assess the humanitarian crisis and review relief interventions across food, health, education, and water sectors.
The commissioner emphasized the urgent need for proactive measures ahead of the autumn rains to curb the spread of seasonal diseases. He called on UN agencies to establish permanent offices in the state to improve field monitoring and expand aid delivery.
Discussions with WFP focused on increasing the number of aid beneficiaries and finalizing plans to open a permanent WFP office in North Kordofan. A WFP representative commended HAC for providing transparent data to guide emergency relief.
A UNICEF representative noted that the visit aimed to prepare for expanded operations, particularly in child nutrition across several local districts.
Separately, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that escalating conflict in North Kordofan has triggered new displacement and severely strained basic services.
OCHA reported that roughly 500,000 people have been affected by disruptions to health facilities, including 11,900 pregnant women facing critical barriers to safe delivery services as the rainy season approaches.