Final report expected: February 2025

Seventeen months after war erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 15 April 2023, Sudan is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. With needs escalating, about 25 million people – of whom over 14 million are children – currently need humanitarian assistance and support, while one third of the populations is facing food insecurity. More than 10 million people have fled their homes since the conflict started. They have sought refuge within Sudan or in neighbouring countries, making Sudan the largest displacement crisis in the world.

Sudan presents a highly complicated environment for delivering principled humanitarian response to people in need. Humanitarian organisations are navigating a myriad of interests and challenges, while the warring parties show little respect for international human rights and humanitarian norms. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, established by the UN Human Rights Council on 11 October 2023, has found that the parties to the conflict have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Due to security restrictions and bureaucratic and administrative impediments, international aid agencies have been faced with major constraints in accessing crisis-affected communities. Few agencies are present in areas such as Kordofan, Darfur, and Khartoum. In Khartoum, local neighbourhood-based mutual aid groups have set up communal kitchens to help citizens survive. This has offered an alternative approach to traditional humanitarian assistance, albeit one with little international support other than what they receive from fellow Sudanese communities in diaspora. Recently, the Adre border crossing from Chad has been reopened, allowing (much-needed) cross-border convoys. Yet it is thought that this opening is largely insufficient to deliver the quantities of food and non-food items that are needed.

It is in this environment that the INGO Forum and the INGO community have engaged in collective reflection on the application and use of a principled humanitarian approach in the context of Sudan. As seen in other contexts like Iraq and Yemen, humanitarian principles are an essential element behind the effectiveness of the humanitarian response. The four core humanitarian principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence) are expected to play a major role in engaging with warring parties, negotiating access, and supporting local civil society groups. While these principles serve to distinguish humanitarian aid from other forms of relief and provide a framework for humanitarian agencies to navigate ethical dilemmas, the application of the principles cannot be taken for granted. The delivery of humanitarian aid in complex environments is by nature a balancing act between often competing priorities. Linked to the interdependence that exists among humanitarian organisations, continuous exchange and mutual learning on what works and what works less well are prerequisites to address the individual and collective challenges to principled humanitarian action. Reflection and analysis on the trade-offs and results should inform these coordination efforts.

The overall purpose of this study is to reflect – together with the INGO community in Sudan – on what it means to provide principled humanitarian programming in a context like Sudan and to identify recommendations that would strengthen principled humanitarian action in view of further increasing access to assistance and protection for affected populations. Such recommendations will particularly be targeted at the collective (INGO) level in terms of their collective policies, practices, and advocacy. As such, this study is conceived as a learning exercise, including a facilitated, evidence-based exchange looking at individual and collective experiences and efforts in negotiating access and delivering principled humanitarian action.