After 1,000 days of war, Sudan’s people can’t wait to rebuild their lives

Even with no end to the fighting, work is underway to keep healthcare, food production and basic services running for tens of millions across the vast country

January 12, 2026

1,000 days have passed since war erupted in Sudan. Lives have been lost, communities shattered and decades of development progress eroded, turning Sudan into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

30 million need humanitarian assistance and 14 million have been displaced since April 2023. Schools and hospitals are in ruins. Wells are contaminated, markets are shut and electricity and water supplies are failing. Every day, women face an unending threat of sexual violence. Beyond the battlefields, cholera, malaria and other diseases are killing thousands.

The scale of devastation means that humanitarian aid alone will never support the needs of everyone who is suffering. But even in the shadow of conflict, people across Sudan are struggling to build their lives and their country so they can support themselves.

They’re planting crops and trying to reopen businesses. They’re treating patients in damaged hospital rooms and delivering life-saving drugs across conflict lines. They’re keeping power and water systems running wherever possible. But they need more support to help expand these efforts and allow early recovery to begin for all.

“When the war forced us to flee, I lost everything: my home, my work, my sense of stability. Now I can sell tea again as people are returning to the streets and food is back on my children’s table.”

– Sameera, a small trader in Khartoum

Sameera supports her family selling tea in Khartoum. She was forced to flee when war broke out, but has now returned, hoping to start again, along with millions of Sudanese who are leaving displacement areas to go back to major cities.

Sameera and small concerns like hers – along with the customers who use them – are a sign of recovery and of the potential for small businesses to spur economic growth. In other cities, UNDP has helped thousands of women like Sameera with micro-grants to begin similar enterprises and with training on financial literacy and business skills so they can expand. This includes women across three states in eastern Sudan who have been supported with funding from Germany to set up food processing, tailoring and trading businesses.

“We can’t wait for the hospital to be fully rebuilt before supporting patients. Despite the destruction, we continue our work.”

– Afif, a coordinator at the Tropical Disease Hospital in Khartoum.

The outbreak of war was devastating for people living with HIV. Medical supply chains were cut off, 75% of hospitals in conflict areas closed down and thousands of displaced people had their treatment disrupted.

Over the last 1,000 days, UNDP, the Global Fund and the National Medical Supply Fund have worked together to maintain treatment for patients in the hardest-to-reach places, like Darfur and Kordofan, and for vulnerable people who cannot reach clinics. But the obstacles are severe. Antiretrovirals require consistent, supervised treatment. Medicines must be transported over dangerous routes to secure points. Clinicians must support adherence to prevent drug resistance.

With the Global Fund, UNDP has brought in HIV medicines and test kits, equipped clinics, trained health workers and improved warehousing and distribution. Through a network of volunteers, NGOs and the National Medical Supply Fund we have managed to track around 12,000 adults and children and keep them on HIV treatment. At the same time, this work has strengthened national systems that are key for the treatment of diseases like TB and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

“Water is our biggest challenge, when the system breaks, everyone suffers — residents and displaced people alike.”

– Bader Elden, head of the water committee in Andalah village.

In states like Kassala and Gedaref, waves of displaced families have sought refuge from the fighting and must now share already limited resources with host communities in areas that are free from conflict but still mired in poverty. Land, water and jobs are all in short supply and increased competition can fuel local tensions.

With King Salman Relief, UNDP is building and repairing more than 50 water yard and pumps that will serve 3 million people. We’re also training local Water Users Associations, like Bader Elden’s in Kassala, to manage these facilities so they stay working for years to come.

Together with Switzerland, we are helping 160,000 displaced and host families in Kassala and neighbouring states to restore farms and rebuild livelihoods. This includes providing machinery, training farmers and installing solar energy systems, helping to lower food prices and boost supply.In Darfur, horrifying human rights violations have seen hospitals invaded, women attacked and raped, and displaced people shot by the side of the road as they flee to safety. Now tens of thousands are in temporary shelters struggling to feed their families and access basic healthcare.

In one displacement site, UNDP and our Partners at Core have set up solar wells that provide a sustainable source of clean drinking water.

For those displaced further away, we’ve worked with the Global Fund and other UN agencies to set up a mobile primary health facility that supports about 800 households with maternal services and laboratory testing, including HIV diagnosis and treatment. We’ve also delivered HIV medicines directly to Darfur through joint convoys with UN partners and are establishing cross-border access routes to enable more regular deliveries.

Despite the misery of a war that is approaching the three-year mark, there is no peace agreement in sight and people still have to live together and rebuild relationships in the absence of a broader political settlement. This creates an urgent need to support local peace initiatives, including mediation to address the kind of conflicts exacerbated by massive displacement.

UNDP’s new Peace on Wheels project in Khartoum and Gedaref is working with rickshaw drivers, women who run tea stalls and community leaders – the kind of individuals who meet huge numbers of people every day – to spread messages of peace, counter hate speech and promote dialogue.

This work is increasingly critical as millions of people like Sameera return to cities they fled earlier in the conflict, often to communities marked by deep polarization and mistrust. By focusing on local processes, Peace on Wheels aims to restore a sense of agency and help rebuild peace from the ground up, supporting the foundations for longer-term stability.

After 1,000 days of war, Sudan’s people are showing extraordinary determination to survive, recover and hold their communities together, even as the conflict drags on. From keeping clinics open and water flowing to restoring livelihoods and strengthening local peace, these efforts show what is possible when people and communities are empowered through development support to help themselves. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of our donors and, UNDP will continue to stand with them for as long as it takes.