Belga Share – “Austerity measures on humanitarian aid worsen severe health crisis in Sudan”

At the beginning of last year, the US government decided to close USAID, and this is now beginning to have tangible effects on the ground. In June, funding for many aid organisations was withdrawn. Several European governments, including Belgium, also decided to significantly cut humanitarian aid. Worldwide, humanitarian assistance decreased by 36 per cent last year compared to 2024, according to the NGO.

In Sudan, the trend is not exactly the same, as some European donors have maintained or even increased their support for Sudan, but it nonetheless demonstrates to MSF that “international funding is shrinking sharply.” The conflict in Sudan has been “chronically underfunded for many years.” The UN estimates the needs for 2026 at 2.9 billion dollars, of which only 41 per cent has been funded.

For Sudanese healthcare, which has long been in crisis, this shrinking funding capacity comes on top of ongoing war and “the humanitarian crisis reaching catastrophic proportions,” says MSF.

“The war increases needs, while austerity measures cause the humanitarian response to shrink,” says Muhammad Ibrahim, head of MSF’s mission in Sudan. “Our work is fully privately funded, but when support from other health services disappears, patients have fewer places to turn to, and pressure on the remaining facilities increases.”

The NGO highlights the situation at the Tanedba refugee camp in the city of Gedaref, where 18,400 refugees reside. The sudden departure of a aid organisation led to the closure of the maternity and surgical departments. Pregnant women needing a caesarean section now have to travel three hours to the nearest city. MSF has taken over the emergency services in the camp until the end of 2026. “After a longer and more expensive journey, patients often arrive in much more serious condition, while the hospital may already be full,” notes Sebastián Traficante (MSF). “We can strengthen some services, but we cannot compensate for every closure.”

World leaders gathering in New York next week must therefore “protect the funding of essential healthcare in Sudan and provide flexible transitional funding for health centres threatened with closure,” argues MSF.

The initial translation of this content was generated by AI. All facts, context, and language have subsequently been verified and validated by a human editorial team.
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