Over 20,000 flee violence in Darfur as funding gap threatens aid
July 27, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Escalating insecurity and intercommunal violence across Sudan’s Darfur region have forced more than 20,000 people to flee their homes in recent weeks, the United Nations warned on Monday, while severe funding shortages threaten the aid response.
UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters during a noon briefing that the newly displaced populations in Darfur are in urgent need of basic survival assistance as security conditions in the region continue to degrade.
The security crisis in Darfur is being fueled by multiple compounding conflicts. In South Darfur, fierce intercommunal fighting between the Salamat and Beni Halba tribes—both allied with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—has repeatedly reignited, using RSF military vehicles and heavy weaponry to burn villages and displace thousands.
Simultaneously, RSF paramilitaries and affiliated militias have carried out targeted offensives against the Zaghawa ethnic group in Tina, Karnoi, and surrounding localities of North Darfur, burning dozens of communities and driving residents toward Chad.
The latest surge in displacement comes as humanitarians face a crippling financial shortfall. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revealed that Sudan’s $2.9 billion humanitarian appeal for this year remains only 40 per cent funded, having received just $1.1 billion so far.
The UN once again called on all armed factions operating in Darfur and across the country to protect civilians and allow immediate, unhindered access for humanitarian operations to reach those trapped without aid.
Aid agencies warned that the combination of expanding conflict in Darfur and lagging international funding is severely compromising their capacity to respond to compounding crises across Sudan.
Alongside the displacement crisis, health teams are also attempting to curb a widening cholera outbreak that has recorded more than 2,000 suspected cases and 170 deaths since May, primarily in the Kordofan region.
Humanitarian groups are continuing to scale up emergency operations, supporting 16 treatment centres and preventive efforts for over 270,000 people, but stressed that operations cannot be sustained without an immediate injection of donor funds.