Sudan
International Medical Corps has worked in Sudan since 2004. We offer healthcare, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), nutrition, services related to violence against women and girls (VAWG), and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, often integrating them to achieve more effective outcomes. We provide these services in 41 health facilities to residents across five states, including Blue Nile, Central Darfur, Khartoum, South Darfur and West Darfur.
Once the largest and most geographically diverse nation in Africa, Sudan split into two separate countries in July 2011, after the people of what is now South Sudan voted for independence. Today, Sudan is experiencing significant turmoil, and is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than half of the population—about 24.8 million people—require humanitarian assistance. The crisis is compounded by annual outbreaks of disease, including dengue fever, cholera and malaria. Despite limited access and chronic instability, in 2025, we provided humanitarian assistance to more than 1.8 million people in Sudan.
50.4 million
66/70 years
male/female
19.3 years
The Challenges
Our Response
Healthcare
International Medical Corps currently supports 41 health facilities across Sudan, delivering essential health services, strengthening health systems and providing resources to deploy skilled health workers. Essential health services include treatment and prevention of disease, reproductive healthcare, health education, immunization, child healthcare and surveillance, and referrals to emergency- and secondary-level health services. Reproductive health services include prenatal care, safe deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants, postnatal and newborn care, and family planning. Clinical management of rape (CMR) and safe referrals are also offered at the facilities.
In 2025, we provided 998,463 health consultations, including treating thousands of patients for acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and malaria, which continue to be the leading causes of disease in Sudan. We also reached women with comprehensive reproductive health services, including 17,749 women who received antenatal care and 13,345 who delivered babies assisted by skilled healthcare personnel. We provided vaccinations to more than 100,000 children under 1, and delivered health education to local communities on topics such as infectious diseases and infection prevention and control.
Health Systems Strengthening
We help the Sudanese Ministry of Health (MoH) to promote a stronger healthcare delivery system. Our activities include supporting service delivery, providing information management, rehabilitating health facilities, deploying healthcare workers, and providing medicines and medical supplies. We support MoH efforts around disease control, disease surveillance and immunization, and train MoH staff on emergency preparedness.
Nutrition
International Medical Corps provides nutrition services in Sudan to those most vulnerable to hunger—including children under 5, pregnant women and nursing mothers. We operate 37 outpatient therapeutic programs (OTPs), 36 target supplementary treatment centers (TSFPs) and six stabilization centers for malnourished children with medical complications. In 2025, we screened 179,588 children under 5 for malnutrition, thousands of whom were malnourished. We provided 128,445 caregivers of children under 2 with vital information about infant and young-child feeding practices, including the importance of breastfeeding, dietary diversification using local foods and targeted nutritional support.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Many communities in Sudan experience sub-standard water quality and insufficient quantity—17.3 million people lack access to basic drinking water, while about 24 million lack access to proper sanitation facilities. Influxes of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) frequently strain host communities and camp water-collection and sanitation systems. By expanding access to clean water, creating proper waste-disposal systems and providing safe sanitation facilities, we restore and protect healthy living conditions.
In Sudan, we implement WASH activities as part of health and nutrition interventions, including:
- promoting good hygiene practices through;
- creating waste disposal facilities and safe practices;
- chlorinating, rehabilitating and maintaining water points;
- constructing and rehabilitating drainage canals and latrines; and
- improving WASH and infection prevention and control in health facilities.
In 2025, we constructed or rehabilitated 17 water points for internally displaced people and host communities, and reached 416,488 people with information about the need for safe hygiene practices and other WASH activities.
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
International Medical Corps provides MHPSS services through an integrated approach, ensuring accessibility, non-stigmatization and cultural acceptability.
Our MHPSS program aims to improve mental health, enhance resilience and well-being, build social support networks and empower affected populations, including children and youth. Our MHPSS services include psychological support, mental health case management, psychological first aid (PFA) and group psychosocial support (PSS). Community-based PSS activities include community outreach, mental health awareness and psychoeducation. International Medical Corps also provides training for key stakeholders, including general health providers, MHPSS staff, community leaders, local partners and staff from other humanitarian agencies. Training topics include the WHO’s mhGAP Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG), SH+, PFA, basic concepts of MHPSS, and detection and safe referrals of mental health cases. International Medical Corps also actively contributes to the establishment and strengthening of MHPSS coordination mechanisms, including the Sudan National and Sub-Regional MHPSS Technical Working Groups. In 2025, we provided mental health consultations to 6,308 people, and 25,541 people participated in psychosocial support activities.
Violence Against Women and Girls
To help meet increasing needs related to escalating violence, International Medical Corps launched its first VAWG prevention and response program in Sudan in 2024. We work with three local partners, two of which are women-led organizations, to provide comprehensive services for survivors of violence and to strengthen support and protection for those at risk of violence. International Medical Corps recognizes the importance of individualized, survivor-centered care, including case management, psychosocial support and safe referral to health services.
The VAWG team works closely with the Health, Nutrition and MHPSS teams to integrate activities, mitigate risks and strengthen referrals to lifesaving services, such as CMR. The team also works closely with community leaders and local groups, such as mother-to-mother support groups, to address harmful attitudes and promote support for survivors. In coordination with the sub-cluster working group, we lead efforts to strengthen the response to VAWG, including implementing case management capacity-building initiatives with local organizations across the country.
Capacity Building
Overall, the health system’s limited capacity and response mechanisms have severely weakened the ability to provide adequate healthcare. Since arriving in Sudan in 2004, we have trained thousands of local and national medical personnel, including traditional birth attendants and community leaders, in collaboration with the MoH. In 2025, we trained 1,519 people on different topics, including:
- emergency obstetric and newborn care;
- rational use of essential drugs;
- support for CMR and survivors of intimate partner violence;
- integrated management of common childhood illnesses;
- nutritional screening, treatment and prevention of malnutrition;
- infant and young-child feeding practices;
- outbreak preparedness and response;
- infection prevention and control; and
- PFA and mental health case management, including safe referrals.
The expertise of these providers is crucial to integrating healthcare services into the community. Their skills also provide the continuity of care needed to stabilize fragile healthcare systems and foster long-term recovery.
Our Impact in 2025
Medical Teams Bring Healing to the Front Lines in Darfur
As fighting devastates Sudan, displacing millions, International Medical Corps is providing critical medical care, including lifesaving surgeries, safe deliveries and mental health services.
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Women and their children wait outside the Karkoj Health Center in Singa.
International Medical Corps’s mobile health and nutrition team evaluates whether a child is malnourished at the Souk Al Kadar camp.
A child sits with stuffed animals and toys after receiving health treatment at Geissan Hospital.
A mother and her three children wait to be evaluated for nutrition services after they were displaced by the ongoing conflict.
An International Medical Corps team member examines a patient at a mobile medical clinic in Sudan.
Community member Hassan (left) and his family sit together in Umdukhun Hospital, where his young son received treatment for measles.