The Severe Humanitarian Crisis in Sudan

Key Facts and How You Can Help

by Andrea Bocskor

The ongoing conflict in Sudan is a severe humanitarian crisis that has displaced the largest number of people in the world. Since 2023, rival military factions have brought war to the country, affecting millions with famine and mass displacement. Here are some key facts about the crisis:

• Approximately 10.7 million people (2.1 million families) are now internally displaced in Sudan (OCHA, IRC).

• Over 1.5 million Sudanese fled to neighboring countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. (UNHCR)

• An estimated 25.6 million people—more than half of Sudan’s population—face acute hunger and require humanitarian assistance (CDP).

• More than 755,000 people are nearing famine, representing the biggest global hunger crisis (OCHA, CDP).

• Approximately 11 million Sudanese urgently need health assistance. Over 11,000 suspected cholera cases and outbreaks of measles, malaria, and dengue fever are ongoing in the region (WHO). 

• Around 19 million children have lost access to education due to the war. One in two Sudanese children–over 10 million in total–have been in an active warzone over the past year (Save the Children).

How LHI is Helping  

We are positioned to help Sudanese refugees in Uganda. We asked refugee camp managers in Uganda what recently displaced families from Sudan most urgently need. The answer? Shoes and school supplies. Many Sudanese children were forced to walk long distances en route to safety, often without footwear of any kind. Shoes and access to school offer displaced children some stability while living in one of the biggest refugee camps in Uganda, Bweyale in Kiryandongo District.

Help Us Expand Our Response

Your support enables us to expand our emergency response for Sudanese refugees to other locations closer to the epicenter of the crisis. Our team is currently investigating local partners and identifying needs that aren’t being filled by other humanitarian orgs. Here’s how you can contribute:

• Donate: Help us provide essential supplies and services, and expand our current emergency response. Your contribution will directly impact the lives of Sudanese children, women, and adults, helping them access essentials like food, water, hygiene items, and find hope amidst the crisis. Donate here

• Volunteer: Join our team to make a direct difference in the lives of refugees. Volunteers play a key role in helping us provide aid around the world. Learn more here

• Spread Awareness: Help us raise awareness about the crisis in Sudan. Share this blog through social media and conversations with friends and family. Spreading awareness is a powerful way to amplify our efforts and bring attention to the urgent needs of Sudanese refugees. 

Together, we can make a significant impact on the lives of those affected by the crisis in Sudan. Thank you!

Gazans displaced again and again

by Ivy Laidlaw-Morris, LHI Volunteer

Source: Norwegian Refugee Council

Just in the past month, 815,000 people have been displaced from Rafah alone, according to the UN (OCHA). Over the past several months, over 1 million people had fled to Rafah and neighboring areas, but are now being displaced once again. The UN estimates that over 70,000 houses have been destroyed as a result of the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Strikingly, OCHA reports, over 75% of the population in Gaza are displaced as of February (this is 1.7 million out of 2.3 million people).

Source: Norwegian Refugee Council

A large number of displaced Gazans headed to al-Mawasi, where LHI sponsored the construction of tents and communal kitchens. The area is now overcrowded with those seeking refuge and aid. The Norwegian Refugee Council describes the increasingly inhumane conditions in al-Mawasi: “There is panic and fear everywhere... al-Mawasi [is]... without adequate shelter, with many sleeping in makeshift shelters directly on the sand.” And conditions only worsen.

The insufficient trickle of humanitarian aid into Gaza has already dropped by 67% since May 7th. This stark lack of aid has dramatically declined dietary diversity and increased rates of malnutrition. The statistics are difficult to internalize: 95% of children aged six to 23 months eat two or less different food groups per day as of May.  Moreover, 85% of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted. Since mid-January, 93,409 children aged 6-59 months have been screened for malnutrition, of whom 7,280 have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition. Nearly 8% of children screened have acute malnutrition. 

Source: Norwegian Refugee Council

The heartbreaking conditions in al-Mawasi demonstrate the need for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, an end to the death and destruction, and unrestricted access to aid. Donate to LHI to further help displaced Palestinians in Gaza.

Helping the Helpers in Gaza

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

Ambulance drivers in Gaza learn soft-belly meditation techniques to help mitigate the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Fred Rogers, best known for his television show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, once told his young audience: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” These words of wisdom are comforting to the young and old alike—when bad things happen, it is reassuring to remember that there are good and kind people in the world. Since the start of the conflict in Gaza, LHI has learned there is another reason to look for the helpers: those who respond in times of crisis are likely to need help themselves.

Doctors, nurses, first responders, and other aid workers in Gaza are not only responding to situations that are dangerous, stressful, and frightening, but they and their families are also living in those same situations. These helpers in Gaza are at an increased risk for developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The symptoms of PTSD, which include chronic pain, dizziness, headaches, irritability, sleep problems, and difficulty concentrating, can get in the way of these helpers doing their jobs. And, unfortunately, in Gaza where borders and movement in and out are tightly controlled, Gazan first responders are the most consistent deliverers of aid and services in the region.

First responders attend a Mind-Body workshop.

Lifting Hands International has partnered with the Center For Mind-Body Medicine to provide psychological first aid for first responders in Gaza. Beneficiaries participate in Emergency Mind-Body Self-Care Workshops or Mind-Body Skills groups where they learn techniques for mitigating the effects of PTSD.

We’ve heard from some of the aid workers in Gaza who have completed these trainings. 

Salah, a 36-year-old resident of the northern Gaza Strip, in Jabalia Camp, works for the Red Crescent Society as a first responder. 

“Before attending the Mind-Body Workshop, I used to go out to treat the injured in a reckless manner without taking care of myself. It’s a miracle I survived. After learning and practicing the skills of the Mind-body, especially self-care, breathing and relaxation exercises, I began to take more care of myself, and come to myself, before going out to treat the injured. This has allowed me to better protect myself, staying as safe as others, and continue to be able to provide services to others. 

 Niveen, 38 years old, an administrative professional at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) shelter, said:

“I am a resident of Khan Yunis, and when the ground invasion and violent bombing began there, and my house was subjected to artillery shelling, I, my husband, and my children fled to Rafah. I have had so much stress, especially given our difficult living conditions ever since. I became more nervous, feeling terrified around the clock. I felt alienated from myself, my children, and my family, and I lost interest in myself and passion for life.

After joining the Mind-Body Group, I began to feel more self-assurance, and inner peace. I became more interested in myself and my family again. I practiced the self-care exercises I learned, and I started giving time to my hobbies. Now I am able to spread hope and optimism to my family, friends, and coworkers.”

Najat, 50 years old, a social worker at UNRWA shelter, said:

“I fled my home in Khan Yunis Governorate after my home was bombed with missiles, bombs, and flash bombs. I fled and left my home, my belongings, and my memories. I fled with my family to escape death. I moved to our relatives’ house, thinking that their house would be safer, but we were followed by bombing and explosions, as a house right next to us was bombed. I felt so unsafe, fearful, and I suffered from lack of sleep, anxiety, stress, fear, and increased nervousness with my children and husband.

After my family and I went to stay in the shelter center and I began working in there as a social worker, I joined Mind-Body Group. After practicing the skills they taught, I began to feel better in dealing with life and work stressors. I began to feel that there was hope in life, and that I will someday return to my home and restore it.”

LHI is committed to helping the helpers in Gaza, but we need your help to continue providing Center for Mind-Body workshops to aid workers and first responders. You can help by donating to our Gaza Emergency Response campaign. Any amount helps us keep this important work going. 

LHI Is There When the Headlines Have Moved On

by Brigid Rowlings, LHI Communications Director

LHI sends shipments of humanitarian aid from our warehouse in Utah to Bangladesh every year.

Have you noticed that Gaza, which is entering its fourth month of bombardment, or Ukraine, which is approaching its two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, are no longer as prominent in the news as they once were? Why? Even when humanitarian crises remain, the news cycle moves on.

This is one of the challenging aspects of humanitarian work. Media focus on events like the war in Ukraine, the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza catch our collective attention and prompt us to look for ways to help. But, when the news moves on, often, so do the donations to organizations like LHI. 

 LHI founder and director Hayley Smith visited a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh in 2017.

Journalist Femi Oke recently spoke about this challenge on the NPR news show Here and Now. Her interviews with Rohingya refugees who’d lived in Bangladesh for 30 years revealed the fear of many long-term refugees: the world is forgetting about them. For people who depend almost entirely on humanitarian aid organizations and their donors for necessities like food, water, clothing and shelter, this thought is scary. But, with the global population of long-term refugees rising, the need for humanitarian assistance that leads to self-sufficiency is greater than ever.

While LHI is always poised to meet urgent needs, we have and continue to expand programs that facilitate increased stability and self-sufficiency for refugees along each stage of the refugee journey. These programs include: 

Women at the LHI Community Center in Serres, Greece learn to cut hair. This is a skill the women can use to support themselves and their families when their asylum cases are processed and they are resettled in a new country.

Workforce training and income opportunities

From the language classes and barber trainings that take place at our community center in Serres, Greece to the food-packaging business and aesthetician training happening at the LHI Shelter in Lviv, Ukraine, LHI facilitates programs that prepare refugees for employment in the communities they live in or will resettle in. Our livestock program gives milk goats to Syrian refugees in Jordan who are then able to support their families from the sale of milk and milk products. And, we have a new community center in Lviv, Ukraine that offers an entrepreneurial accelerator program to internally displaced women, most of whom are single mothers because their husbands have been deployed or they’ve been widowed by the war.

Teams of mobile psychologists visit de-occupied villages in Ukraine and lead group therapy sessions for children and adults.

Social-emotional supports

In our programs in Greece, Moldova, and Ukraine, teams provide social emotional support such as sessions with psychologists, yoga classes, and art therapy for people who have experienced the trauma of leaving home behind for an uncertain future. In emergency situations like the earthquakes that hit Turkey in February 2023 and the ongoing crisis in Gaza, we’ve provided mobile psychological support for survivors and aid workers. These programs help refugees begin to heal and have hope for the future.

LHI’s Welcome Program volunteers add special touches to the apartments they set up for refugee families resettling in Utah.

Community Integration

Our Welcome Program alleviates the strain that refugees resettled in Utah feel by providing all of the items on the US resettlement agency’s checklist for homes for new arrivals. This means that refugee families will not have to buy them with the small stipend they receive. But the LHI Welcome team doesn’t just stop at the basic requirements! Our volunteers make up beds with handmade quilts and blankets, bring school supplies, clothing and toys for children, and always leave warm messages of love, support and welcome for families. 

While LHI remains ready to help in emergency situations, helping refugees achieve self-sufficiency and “the good life” is one of LHI’s main priorities. We depend on the support of LHI2G, our team of recurring donors, for a reliable source of funding to keep these programs going. Consider joining the team! No recurring monthly donation is too small. Plus, you will get access to a special behind-the-scenes newsletter exclusively for LHI2G members. Visit our LHI2G page to learn more!