On April 14, 2026, Human Concern International (HCI), in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), convened a parliamentary roundtable on Sudan’s escalating humanitarian crisis and its growing regional implications. The discussion brought together Members of Parliament, government officials, and humanitarian leaders to examine one of the world’s most dire emergencies.
The roundtable provided an important opportunity to engage Canadian policymakers on the evolving situation in Sudan, where conflict, displacement, and systemic collapse continue to drive unprecedented humanitarian needs.
Sudan is currently facing the largest displacement crisis in the world. Nearly 9 million people have been internally displaced, while over 30 million require urgent humanitarian assistance. Entire communities have been uprooted multiple times, and basic systems (healthcare, water and sanitation) have been severely damaged or destroyed.
More than 4.5 million people have fled across borders to neighbouring countries including Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, and Libya, placing immense pressure on already fragile host communities and humanitarian systems.
At the same time, nearly 4 million people have returned to areas they perceive as safer. However, these returns often reflect survival pressures rather than recovery. Many families arrive back to destroyed homes, limited services, and no access to healthcare, clean water, or livelihoods, underscoring the deeply unstable and cyclical nature of displacement in Sudan.
During the roundtable, HCI’s Global CEO, Mahmuda Khan, shared reflections from recent visits to Egypt and Turkey, where she met Sudanese families who have been forced to flee their homes.
She described conversations with mothers and young people whose lives have been completely disrupted, including families who left everything behind overnight, and who now face new barriers in host countries, including restricted access to education and livelihoods.
“These are not just statistics,” she emphasized. “They are families navigating one crisis after another, trying to rebuild stability in conditions that make that nearly impossible.”
Her remarks highlighted a key reality: women and youth are disproportionately affected by displacement, yet too often excluded from shaping the solutions that impact their lives.
Approximately 70% of health facilities in conflict-affected areas are no longer functional. Disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, measles, and dengue, are spreading in communities already weakened by malnutrition and food insecurity.
Maternal mortality is rising, vaccination rates have dropped to their lowest levels in decades, and children are facing compounding health emergencies in environments with limited or no access to care.
At the same time, protection risks are intensifying. Women, children, and displaced populations are increasingly vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and human trafficking. These risks grow in the absence of stable systems, livelihoods, and safe pathways.
Human Concern International has been working in Sudan for decades and continues to respond to both urgent humanitarian needs and long-term recovery efforts.
Since April 2023, HCI has reached nearly 100,000 individuals across Sudan through emergency response programming, including:
In partnership with the International Organization for Migration, HCI is also supporting mobile clinics and strengthening primary healthcare systems in North Darfur and Khartoum, reaching approximately 60,000 people.
The roundtable also highlighted the importance of collaboration between humanitarian organizations and multilateral institutions.
The partnership between HCI and IOM reflects a shared understanding that no single organization can respond to a crisis of this scale alone. HCI brings deep community trust and operational presence on the ground, while IOM provides coordination, technical expertise, and global reach.
Together, the two organizations are working to ensure that humanitarian assistance is more effective, more coordinated, and more responsive to the realities faced by affected populations.
As IOM emphasized during the discussion, Sudan is not a linear crisis. People are constantly moving: displaced, returning, and relocating again. This often occurs in environments marked by insecurity, climate shocks, and collapsing infrastructure. Humanitarian responses must therefore be flexible, adaptive, and grounded in protection.
Members of Parliament participating in the roundtable underscored Canada’s important role in responding to the crisis, not only as a donor, but as a policy leader.
They also emphasized that Sudan’s crisis is not isolated. It has regional and global implications, shaping migration patterns, increasing protection risks, and placing pressure on neighbouring countries and international systems.
The situation in Sudan demands sustained attention and sustained action. As humanitarian needs continue to grow, the international community must resist the risk of fatigue or silence.
At HCI, we remain committed to standing with the people of Sudan, delivering life-saving assistance, strengthening protection systems, and working alongside partners to support dignity, resilience, and recovery.
Sudan is not only a humanitarian crisis. It is a test of global solidarity.
And the people of Sudan cannot be forgotten.