The impact of underfunded humanitarian assistance in Eastern Chad: the perspective of women Sudanese refugees 

Since April 2023, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has triggered the world’s largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis:  over 12.8 million people  have fled to neighbouring countries. Despite the significant scale of the conflict and the resulting death toll, the conflict is regarded as a “forgotten war”, and the humanitarian response has been insufficiently funded.

Focusing on the situation of women Sudanese refugees in Eastern Chad, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and its Chadian partner BUCOFORE carried out field research in the refugee camps of Farchana, Breidjing, Djabal, and Irdimi in April and May 2024. The research employed a mixed-methods approach based on a perception survey and qualitative interviews to centre women’s experiences. Three demographic groups were identified: newly arrived Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees displaced by the ongoing conflict between the RSF and the SAF, long-term Sudanese refugees displaced since the Darfur crisis in 2003-2004, and local communities in Chad.  

Humanitarian aid falls short 

As more refugees arrive in Chad, humanitarian aid remains insufficient to meet the growing needs. Chad hosts over 844,000 Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees. That’s on top of the 400,000 Sudanese refugees who have fled since the Darfur conflict in 2003-2004. While the 2004 humanitarian response plan in Chad was funded at 87.9 percent, only 45.4 percent of the 2023 plan received funding. Despite an overall increase in funding on average since 2016, available resources cannot keep up with the rapid escalation of needs, resulting in gaps in assistance and a failure to protect refugees. 

In November 2023 and March 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that unless more funding is received, it would be unable to continue providing life-saving assistance in Chad.  

Our research shows that while 74 percent of respondents received emergency assistance when they arrived in Chad, this proportion is higher among long-term refugees than among those recently arrived.  

Women’s perceptions of and satisfaction with humanitarian assistance  

On arrival, most women refugees receive food, water, medical assistance, and shelter. However, distributions are impacted by the funding gap. The WFP declared that “activities received only 50 percent of the required funding, which represented a decrease compared to the 61 percent level of funding in 2022”. These observations are supported by the refugees who report limited amounts of basic needs such as food and water. “I was given buckets and a mat, but the help isn’t enough. No one even asks us what we want. We need food and water—the two most important things—but it’s so hard to get them”, reported one refugee in Irdimi Refugee Camp in Chad.  

The need for a gender-responsive humanitarian response in the camps  

While all refugees share economic needs, women and girls have gender-specific needs, including maternal and reproductive health services, protection from gender-based violence, and economic empowerment. 65 percent of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees did not feel that the assistance responded to their specific needs as women. 33 percent of respondents attributed the deficiencies in aid to the assumption that everyone in the camp has the same needs. 

This underlines the complex challenges facing humanitarian responses: urgent needs such as food and water have to be balanced with longer-term needs such as education and economic opportunities. One young newly displaced Sudanese refugee in the Farchana refugee camp in Chad perceived access to education to be her primary need as a young woman. The responses show that needs are not only influenced by gender, but also shaped by intersecting factors such as age, socio-economic status and opportunities. Another recently displaced Sudanese refugees in Farchana said: “As a mother, I am debilitated by the situation that my children are going through. To see them starving, without medicine and without education, disgusts me.” 

Since the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) adopted its first Policy on Refugee Women (1990), there has been significant progress in recognizing the specific needs of refugee women and girls and the necessity for gender responsive humanitarian action, such as the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and the establishment of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. Gender mainstreaming has become a feature of humanitarian aid in most contexts. Yet, gender responsiveness remains limited in practice, particularly in situations of displacement. In addition, gender policies remain generic and fail to account for contextual specificities. Ensuring that refugee women and girls are protected from all forms of gender-based violence, trafficking, and exploitation, and are given access to education and economic opportunities, remains an enduring challenge.

The international responsibility in supporting populations amid conflicts  

In a highly uncertain and increasingly conflict-afflicted world, where millions are forced to flee their homes, supporting populations in need is critical. The ability of humanitarian actors to respond to needs primarily derives from the mobilisation of funds. But shifting donor priorities and concurrent humanitarian crises have turned the armed conflict in Sudan into a neglected crisis. UN agencies and NGOs have denounced these funding discrepancies, which exacerbate the plight of displaced people. The US aid cuts will worsen the situation not only in Sudan and Chad but globally, multiplying crisis hotspots and humanitarian emergencies. It is imperative that the humanitarian response matches the scale of the Sudan crisis. The international community must act decisively to support millions of displaced people and refugees at risk of starvation in Sudan and in neighbouring countries. 

The war in Sudan must no longer be treated as a forgotten crisis. Sudan stands at a strategic crossroads, not only for Africa, but also in terms of broader regional and global stability. As the conflict continues to displace and plunge millions into suffering, Sudan demands urgent attention from global powers, humanitarian organizations, and regional actors alike. Diplomatic efforts must be intensified to bring all stakeholders to the negotiation table, especially as the risks of partition grow, involving the two rival factions (SAF and RSF), regional powers, and international actors. Diplomatic efforts, and the involvement of major regional actors as well as the UN, are crucial to finding a peaceful resolution to this protracted conflict.