Amplifying the Voices of Sudanese People with Disabilities: A Life-Saving Call to Address Their Needs in the Humanitarian Crisis

Including people with disabilities in emergency response is central to principled, effective humanitarian action. It ensures that populations at risk of exclusion have equal access to humanitarian assistance and services essential for survival, protection, and recovery.

People with disabilities face compounded risks in emergencies, from inaccessible early-warning information to loss of assistive devices and inaccessible aid distributions. Yet most humanitarian actors still lack the technical capacity and skills to adapt life-saving services (food security, health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and protection) accordingly. This gap endangers populations already at risk of exclusion.

The conflict in Sudan has been running for three years now. Yet for millions of civilians, the suffering is far from over. The humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, especially for people with disabilities.

Despite the crisis's scale, Sudan remains one of the world's most neglected and underfunded humanitarian emergencies. The needs are enormous and affect every sector, from healthcare and food security to protection and education.

HI has worked in Sudan since 2024, responding to immediate humanitarian needs and service disruptions in a highly complex humanitarian context marked by shifting conflict dynamics, repeated displacement, escalating humanitarian needs, severe food insecurity, and deteriorating health conditions, while access restrictions, fragmented coordination, and administrative and funding constraints hinder humanitarian response efforts.

Situation of People with Disabilities in Sudan

Available evidence suggests that disability prevalence in Sudan is high. HI’s secondary analysis of the 2025 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA) dataset found that 39.6% of assessed households included at least one person with mild or more severe functional difficulties, while 9.8% included at least one person with moderate or severe functional difficulties.

Disability prevalence increased with age (66% among households headed by persons aged 60 years and above) and was higher in female-headed households than in male-headed households (43.6% vs. 37.7%).

Geographically, prevalence varied considerably across Sudan, with higher rates in Northern State, Khartoum, River Nile, and Darfur, while Kassala and West Kordofan recorded the lowest prevalence.

Disability prevalence was also higher in urban areas and among households of returnees. These patterns likely reflect differences in population age structure, conflict exposure, and displacement dynamics. 

The conflict has had a disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities in Sudan. Insecurity, repeated displacement, and damage to civilian infrastructure and essential services have increased their risk of injury and death.

Many have been separated from family members or caregivers, lost essential assistive devices, and experienced disruptions to health, rehabilitation, education, mental health and psychosocial support, and other services that are critical to maintaining their health, functioning, and independence. The conflict has also heightened the risks of neglect, exploitation, abuse, and violence. 

These impacts have resulted in more severe, complex, and multi-sectoral humanitarian needs for people with disabilities:

• Nearly two-thirds (63.5%) face life-threatening gaps in essential humanitarian needs.

• Food security needs were particularly acute, with 88.2% of households with people with disabilities experiencing food security gaps. 

• Health needs were also significantly higher, affecting 75.1% of these households. 

• In addition, households with people with disabilities had poorer food consumption scores, higher household hunger scores, and were more likely to rely on negative coping strategies.

 • WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), livelihood, shelter, and protection needs were also consistently higher among households with people with disabilities than among households without people with disabilities. 

Barriers Faced by People with Disabilities in Sudan

People with disabilities face additional and intersecting barriers: physical, communication, attitudinal, and institutional barriers that amplify the impacts of the conflict and limit their ability to cope within the complex humanitarian context. 

Physical Barriers:

The MSNA (Multi-Sector Needs Assessment) data show that 34.9% of households with disabilities reported movement restrictions due to physical mobility barriers and security-related restrictions, compared with 26.6% of other households (+8.2 percentage points).

In conflict-affected areas of Sudan, these barriers include inaccessible aid distribution points, helpdesks and facilities; uncleared conflict-related rubble; limited or inaccessible transportation; damage to or loss of assistive devices, with limited access to replacements; and separation from caregivers.

These challenges restrict safety, access to humanitarian services, and participation in community activities.

People with disabilities and their families also face additional financial costs, including accessible transport and escorts, as well as loss of income when caregivers need to accompany them. These costs can place severe financial strain on households whose livelihoods and resources have already been significantly affected by conflict and displacement.

A forty-eight-year-old male with a physical impairment in Baladit, Al-Gedaref, said,

“My device is in bad shape, and I cannot go to the food distribution center. I have to give some part of my food ration to cover transport.”

Communication Barriers:

Inaccessible safety and humanitarian information, and limited access to required documentation, prevent persons with disabilities from understanding risks, identifying available assistance, and accessing and using humanitarian services in Sudan.

For example, information on explosive ordnance and safety, disease outbreaks, and nutrition is often shared through printed materials (posters and leaflets), community sessions, and social media, which do not fully meet the communication needs of people with difficulties seeing, hearing, reading, or understanding. Access to these communication channels can also be limited.

 People with disabilities are 15% less likely to own a mobile phone and 45% less likely to own a smartphone. As a result, they have limited access to information through social media and phones. Therefore, providing information through accessible formats and multiple channels is important to reduce the risk of exclusion. 

A fifty-six-year-old male with a hearing impairment participating in a focus group discussion in Alfao, Al-Gedaref, stated,

“When organizations announce services during meetings, it is difficult for some people with disabilities, like the deaf, to follow and hear; there are no sign language interpreters.”

Attitudinal Barriers (Barriers Caused by Negative Attitudes):

Humanitarian services providers (including local leaders, government officials) often treat people with disabilities with negative attitudes. In Sudan, some traditional or cultural beliefs regarding people with different types of disabilities can reinforce negative attitudes.

For example, some people believe that there is ‘no hope’ for a person with disability; others view a household with a person with a disability as having bad luck. These perceptions contribute to stigma, discrimination, denial, and harassment, and affect how people with disabilities are treated and their ability to safely access humanitarian assistance.

This is reflected in the experience of a young woman with a physical impairment in Gedaref:

“I am afraid to live in this community because of the insecurity; I am unable to access humanitarian assistance; people are being harassed and called nicknames because of disability.”

Institutional Barriers:

Although Sudan's humanitarian planning recognizes disability inclusion, with the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) setting targets to reach people with disabilities and humanitarian sectors, implementation of these commitments remains uneven.

Gaps in knowledge, capacity, and resources among humanitarian actors, along with coordination challenges between humanitarian actors and local authorities, influence this. This, in turn, affects routine disability data collection, aid prioritization, resource allocation, and the adaptation of standards and protocols to enable disability inclusion in humanitarian response. 

If people with disabilities cannot access life-saving assistance, their lives may be at risk. The funding decline makes the situation worse; organizations are pushed to make strict decisions on which services to cut, which impacts people with disabilities and deprives them of many basic needs. 

P.S. Names have been redacted as a security precaution.

Spokespersons are available for interviews upon request.