The Commission has announced today €282.5 million in EU humanitarian aid to address the needs of the most vulnerable people in Chad, Sudan and neighbouring countries. Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib is today in Chad, where she is visiting several EU-funded projects in the country, including those assisting Sudanese refugees.
In Chad, €74.5 million will support the response to the forced displacement crisis in Lake Chad province, as well as the influx of Sudanese refugees and returnees to the east of the country. Funding will be used for food and nutrition assistance, protection for vulnerable individuals and families, health care and essential medicines, water, sanitation, and hygiene services, shelter for displaced populations, education, and multisectoral rapid response.
In Sudan, €160 million will support people in regions severely affected by conflict, with focus on areas facing famine and severe food insecurity and hosting large forcibly displaced populations. Assistance includes addressing food insecurity through cash assistance, healthcare and nutrition services, water and sanitation, shelter support, protection and education.
A further €48 million will support refugees, returnees and host communities in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Libya, to respond to the spillover effects of Sudanese crisis in neighbouring countries, where almost 4 million people have already sought refuge.
Out of the total amount announced today, €140 million is subject to the approval of the budgetary authorities.
Commissioner Lahbib will also meet in Chad EU humanitarian partners, national authorities and civil society organisations to discuss humanitarian challenges and needs.
Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, Hadja Lahbib, said: “With conflict still raging in Sudan, humanitarian needs in the whole region are soaring. Neighbouring countries, grappling with their own challenges, are under immense pressure and the recent surge in fighting is likely to cause even more people to flee across borders. During my mission to Chad, I witnessed firsthand the scale and impact of this crisis, in which the most vulnerable bear the brunt. Since the eruption of war in Sudan, the European Union has stepped up its support and today’s aid package reaffirms our unwavering commitment to address this crisis, providing crucial humanitarian assistance and extending support to neighbouring countries in their time of need.”
Background
Chad faces overlapping natural and manmade humanitarian crises, with 7 million people needing humanitarian aid in 2025. Humanitarian needs are soaring due to a protracted crisis in the Lake Province, unprecedented food insecurity and a mass influx of refugees and returning Chadians from Sudan.
Even before the beginning of the armed conflict Sudan in April 2023, Chad hosted one of the region’s largest refugee populations. With nearly 1 million new arrivals, the total forcibly displaced now exceeds 1.3 million, including over 1.1 million Sudanese refugees, as well as refugees from the Central African Republic, Nigeria and Cameroon, and 220.000 returning Chadians.
With more than 15 million forcibly displaced individuals, the Sudan crisis is the largest displacement crisis in the world, significantly affecting its neighbouring countries that have already taken in more than 3.7 million displaced persons. In December, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) had projected that 24.6 million people would experience acute food insecurity, including famine, in Sudan by May 2025. These already critical levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition are now expected to deteriorate and expand even before May due to the ongoing conflict, displacement, the early start of the peak season, limited access and cuts in funding. More than 30 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance, 9 million of whom are in Darfur, and can only be reached through cross-border assistance via Chad.
In 2024, the EU allocated almost €260 million to the Sudan crisis for Sudan and its neighbouring countries. This included €147 million for the response inside Sudan.
To draw global attention to the crisis, the EU will co-host the London Sudan Conference, together with the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the African Union, on 15 April 2025, two years since the start of the armed conflict.
