When fighting erupted in Sudan in April 2023, it ignited a wave of violence that swept across the country. The conflict has become the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. In 2026, an estimated 33 million people will desperately need assistance.
The Darfur region, already scarred by decades of conflict and instability, has become the epicenter of the crisis. “What we are facing in Sudan is more challenging than any conflict I’ve seen,” says Dr. Bernardita Gaspar, International Medical Corps’ Deputy Country Director in Sudan. Dr. Gaspar first joined International Medical Corps as a doctor in Darfur in 2005. “People have fled to nearby countries, only to return to Sudan when those countries become unstable. We’ve been battling a cholera outbreak since July 2024, the landslide in Tarseen in September—and then came the devastating events in El Fasher.”
Last year, a 500-day siege of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, led to mass displacement—and at least a two-day walk to the nearest settlement for displaced people, over unpaved, unmarked and dangerous roads. Residents of El Fasher primarily fled to Golo locality, where International Medical Corps supports Golo Hospital and Souk al Kadar Camp. We also provide mobile health services at Nimra Five Camp, which is about an hour away from Golo Hospital by car, along a narrow and rocky mountain road. And our teams have been delivering medical supplies and equipment to local partners in Tawila, a city in North Darfur state between El Fasher and Golo.
Nearly 9.5 million people are internally displaced in Sudan, with continued violence in Darfur further exacerbating humanitarian needs and overwhelming a fragile health system. Dr. Gaspar spent more than a month traveling across the Darfur region, ensuring that our teams have the necessary resources to respond to the ongoing conflict and to help families displaced in and around El Fasher. She also learned more about the crisis from the civilians who survived it.
“When I was in our Golo office, a couple came in,” Dr. Gaspar explains. “I did not know why they were there. Then, a colleague explained that the couple and their five children had fled El Fasher with nothing but the clothes on their backs. After traveling for some time, they encountered an infant no more than six months old alone on the side of the road. They waited to see if the baby’s mother would return, but unfortunately, she did not. Despite having no resources and five children of their own, they brought the baby with them to Golo, where we run the local hospital. Our medical team treated the infant for dehydration and malnutrition, and the couple has taken responsibility for the baby.”
International Medical Corps has been providing critical healthcare services at Golo Hospital since 2017. Since then, our team has conducted more than 644,000 outpatient consultations and 15,000 safe deliveries, including more than 3,000 Cesarean sections.
Dr. Selma Saadeldeen, International Medical Corps’ Medical Coordinator in Sudan, recently deployed to Golo, and oversees our medical team there.
“People arrive with nothing more than hope for safety, food and basic healthcare,” says Dr. Saadeldeen. “There are children who have missed their vaccinations, and pregnant women and elderly people living with chronic illnesses without medications. We also see many injuries experienced during the journey to Golo—including sprained ankles and lacerations—as well as dehydration and malnutrition.”
Dr. Saadeldeen has been with International Medical Corps since 2014. In November, she helped open a new mobile clinic at Nimra Five Camp, where our team provides vital health services to displaced people. Though they are not permanent health facilities, mobile clinics function as a reliable hub for delivering health services, ensuring that local communities have predictable access to healthcare.
“On the very first day of the mobile clinic, fate brought us a patient who had recently fled from El Fasher,” Dr. Saadeldeen shares. “Her family carried her to the clinic on a homemade stretcher. She had been bleeding continuously for three days, and was in severe pain, exhausted and terrified. The patient was suffering a miscarriage and had lost so much blood that it was not clear whether she would survive. We provided immediate care—assessing her condition, stabilizing her and ensuring that she could safely reach Golo Hospital. At the hospital, our staff confirmed that without our rapid intervention, she would not have survived. Thanks to swift, coordinated care, she was stabilized and received the urgent treatment she needed. Seeing her alive and stable at the hospital was a powerful moment.”
International Medical Corps has been operating in Sudan since 2004, bringing critical healthcare to millions across the country. It’s not, and has never been, an easy place to work. But our courageous team remains committed to helping families affected by conflict, disaster and disease, no matter what comes next. Learn more about our work in Sudan.