Khartoum, 24 August, 2025 / 11:20 PM
The current cholera devastation in Sudan, especially in the country’s Darfur region is taking a toll on the population already battered by the world’s worst humanitarian crisis following two years of heavy fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).
From Tawila, located 60 kilometres West of El Fasher in North Darfur where there is still heavy fighting, to relatively calmer regions such as Kosti in the White Nile, Sudan’s worst cholera outbreak is exacerbating the country’s humanitarian crisis.
First declared by Sudan’s Ministry of Health on 12 August 2024, there have since been reported 99,700 cases and more than 2,470 related deaths, as of 11 August. In the Darfur region alone, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams treated over 2,300 patients and recorded 40 deaths in the week that ended on August 12.
According to MSF, the situation is most extreme in Tawila, North Darfur state, where 380,000 people have reportedly fled to escape ongoing fighting around the city of El Fasher.
In El Fasher, and in many other parts where fighting has been heaviest, infrastructure has been destroyed, making it impossible to pump water from the source to the people. The war that broke out on 15 April 2023 has also blocked aid in terms of hygiene, further exacerbating the cholera crisis.
At the heart of intervention in this crisis, and navigating a dangerous terrain with a “skeletal manpower” is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) that is innovating every day to deliver water, medicine, and different forms of aid to the people.
Where power plants have been destroyed, CAFOD, the official aid agency for the Catholic Church in England and Wales, is transporting water manually using trucks from the source to distribution points near the people, especially in camps for those internally displaced.
In places where access is impossible for humanitarian organizations, CAFOD is working closely with the Federal Ministry of Health and with local leaders, supporting them with what they need because their challenge is lack of resources.
ACI Africa spoke to Telley Sadia, CAFOD’s Country Representative for Sudan. Telley spoke about the work of the Catholic agency that has maintained a significant presence in the country since the 1970s.
He spoke at length on Wednesday, August 20 about the growing humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and the need for the international press to give the country “a voice.”
“This is one of the biggest humanitarian situations in the world which, unfortunately, has not received much international press. Sudan is not heard,” the Ugandan-born CAFOD official who has worked in Sudan for many years said echoing the sentiments of the Executive Director of CAFOD, Christine Allen. In an August 2 interview, Christine told ACI Africa that in the UK, “trying to get coverage on the media or political interest in Sudan has just been almost impossible.”
In the August 20 interview, Telley appealed to journalists, saying, “My message is to the media. Sudan needs a voice. I look forward to the day when the world will be made aware of what is actually happening in this country.”
How is the situation of cholera in parts of Sudan where CAFOD is engaged?
The major cholera challenge is in Tawila, in North Darfur, and we also have cases in Central Darfur, South Darfur, and in White Nile. Kordofan regions are also affected by the cholera outbreak.
We are now in the rainy season, and because of the lack of clean water, we tend to get these outbreaks. We are working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health and other departments to monitor the situation very closely.
What has been CAFOD’s intervention in the cholera crisis?
We first heard of the outbreak when we were just recovering from a drone attack that had destroyed the waterpower plant. CAFOD came in to provide the fuel to run the generators, so that clean water could be supplied in Kosti city of White Nile.
We also did vector spraying control. We are more engaged in clean water provision for both the IDPs and the South Sudanese refugees, both in Kosti and in Tawila and in El Fashir town.
We also work closely with the Federal Ministry of Health and with local leaders, supporting them with what they need because their challenge is lack of resources.
Why does the cholera crisis in the regions you have mentioned keep getting worse?
The situation is getting worse because accessibility in Darfur is still a major challenge. Getting these people the help they need is not easy. There are delays in getting them water and medicine. Where there is no water, the spread is quite fast. Cholera leads to dehydration and the person dies within days or hours.
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The Ministry of Health also doesn't have enough resources to respond immediately. So, NGOs are also coming in to support while managing their other programs. For example, now in White Nile, we are engaging in water trucking, rather than waiting for piped water. We are using trucks to transport water from the source to distribution points because infrastructure has been destroyed, and there are no means to pipe the water to where it is needed in camps.
We have water monitors to monitor the water quality before it is delivered to the distribution points. We also provide people with buckets or jerrycans as we work on the extension of pipelines to these particular places. Apart from water provision, we also conduct hygiene campaigns in communities and in camps for the internally displaced.
In what part of Sudan do you stay, and how is the situation there in regard to the current crisis?
I stay in White Nile, one of the least affected States in Sudan but only as far as the fighting is concerned. We don't have major issues apart from occasional drone attacks. With incoming refugees and the high cost of living, however, White Nile is experiencing a worsening humanitarian situation, just as many other regions in the country. We are receiving more and more IDPs coming from the Kordofan region, where fighting is going on. On top of that, we have about 500,000 South Sudanese refugees in this same place.
What is the current general humanitarian situation of Sudan?
The situation isn't good, especially in locations where fighting is still ongoing, like in the Darfur region and in the Kordofan region. Because of the fighting, lives are being lost. The infrastructure has been destroyed. People don't have food. It is in Kordofan where you heard people were at one point feeding on leaves. In the Darfur, the situation is the same.
Accessibility to these places remains a challenge and getting aid to the people who are trapped there is not easy. People have lost their lives because of over bleeding or lack of adequate medical attention.
Children have lost about three years now of not going to school, especially in these locations. In locations such as Kosti where fighting has not been intense, schools have been converted to camps for people fleeing from places where there is still intense fighting. Children not going to school is a challenge that we are going to grapple with for a very long time even after the war is ended.
A majority of those staying in crowded camps are women, children, and the elderly. Most of them are really traumatized. The Sudanese, especially those in the Darfur region have experienced war before, but nothing came close to what they are witnessing now. Those in Khartoum, going Northern and other parts of Eastern, had never experienced what they're experiencing now. That is why many in camps are really traumatized.
Even in locations where there are no fighting, we are having the challenge of economy. The inflation is very high. Liquidity is at zero. It's very rare to see hard currency. The old currency that was changed is now back into circulation because people don't have money. Whatever they had that they couldn't change because of the war is what they are using.
And then, it's also making it difficult for agencies to easily meet their financial obligations because the banking systems are not that efficient because of the situation.
In what ways does CAFOD work with local partners and the Catholic Church on the ground?
CAFOD is a partner-led organization. We work with local partners because they are the ones who are closest to the people, and our desire is to strengthen their operational systems.
Some of these organizations are within the communities, and so, they can easily respond to the needs of the people. We work with Caritas Sudan and secular organizations located within these communities.
We also work with small Christian communities. The challenge, however, is that most humanitarian organizations fled when fighting intensified in North Darfur.
What are CAFOD’s success stories while intervening in the Sudanese crisis?
Beginning August last year up to early this year, we had a huge influx of IDPs across the country in about 11 States. Displaced people found refuge in Church premises. The Church was overwhelmed. There were no resources to meet the needs of the people. And there was the fear of the outbreak of diseases, especially cholera.
Fortunately, we had already launched the CAFOD Sudan Appeal, where we get support from well-wishers back in the UK. From the appeal, we raised funds, and we were able to reach all the 11 States, in the Church premises where IDPs were gathering. We went around distributing food, water and medication. Many people who came in injured were provided with care.
We also worked with other mutual aid groups to support people who were camping in open spaces to provide them with hot meals and clean water. Our immediate response was appreciated by both the Church and the authorities.
What areas does CAFOD generally focus on in Sudan?
CAFOD started its operations as a grant management organization from the UK in the 1970s, and then it opened the country offices in 2004. Our work focuses on WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), as well as nutrition and protection. We are also doing emergency response for situations like floods and also support schools. We engage in sustainable livelihoods, and we are focusing quite a lot on agriculture and cash assistance.
How has the conflict impacted CAFOD's operations?
We have been forced to close our offices in El Fashir. Now we are working through local partners who are based there, and things are not as they were before when we had CAFOD staff and an office in the city of El Fashir.
We also had to close our country offices in Khartoum, and this has been a great challenge because now we are operating from our few remaining field offices. This has been very inconveniencing to us.
When war broke out, we had to downsize our staff as we monitored the situation. What we had for a long time was skeletal manpower as we worked mainly through partners, but as we stabilized again after the shock and started getting used to the situation, we had to bring in more new people as the needs grew.
Highlight some of CAFOD's priorities for Sudan in the coming months
We need to expand our protection program for the vulnerable and fast-track the WASH activities we put on hold for about five to six months. Some of our water projects are lagging behind, and we are fast-tracking them to reach at least 90 percent completion by the end of this year.
What areas in Sudan remain completely inaccessible to aid organizations?
There are areas where you can't really access where there is active fighting. Like now, El Fashir town is completely inaccessible. For you to get to this place, you must first go to Chad. You fly to Egypt or Ethiopia, then connect to N’Djamena.
At the border between Chad and Sudan, you encounter a fresh set of challenges. You must first be cleared by Chad authorities. You get a visa, which sometimes takes days to process before you are cleared to proceed to Sudan.
There are also areas in-country that are not easily accessible because they are controlled by either of the warring parties. In many cases, there has not been any engagement between the parties to allow for safe passage for international agencies. Travelling to these areas is like travelling to another country altogether.
What I know is that El Fashir is not accessible. Totally. You can't go in. Coming out is also a challenge because of the unending bombardments. There is fighting going on in other places such as West and South of Kordofan. What we only see are people coming out of these places to seek refuge. But it is still difficult for other people to go in, even humanitarian agencies.
What kind of support is most urgently needed from the international community right now?
Healthcare and food. Those who need urgent health care are the terminally ill who cannot access treatment because the systems have been broken down, as well as the women and teenage girls who have been abused and require trauma-related support.
People need food. I've been in Sudan for a number of years, and I never saw the number of women and children on the streets begging as it is now. All they want is something to eat. The issue of hunger is really serious, and it needs to be addressed.
But the most urgent need for me is for some level of understanding to be reached so that people can have a break from all this stress, and for humanitarian agencies to have free access to places where there is so much need.
Who would you address in your final message concerning the situation in Sudan?
My message is to the media. Sudan needs a voice. I look forward to the day when the world will be made aware of what is actually happening in this country. It is only this awareness that will create a change of attitude of the leaders of the two warring factions, so that they can give peace a chance. And by giving peace an opportunity, people will be able to get back to their normal lives.
This is one of the biggest humanitarian situations in the world which, unfortunately, has not received much international press. Sudan is not heard. There isn't much awareness on what is actually happening here. And because of this, not much pressure has been exerted on the warring parties to reach some level of compromise, so that there can be some level of peace for people to at least be a bit free. And also, for humanitarian agencies to have access to the parts of the country where the people have been caught in crossfire, where we cannot access. So, the humanitarian situation remains dire.
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