Friday, September 25, 2026

📍 From the Field The UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported today that more than 400 people cross daily from Sudan into eastern Chad during the past week, a 20-fold increase over the past few months, fleeing fighting and deteriorating living conditions. The Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan situation, Mamadou Dian Balde, told journalists in Geneva via video link from Nairobi: "They are fleeing the conflict, they are fleeing aerial bombardment, they are fleeing drone attacks," coming from Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Commission warned that receiving only 18% of the $1.6 billion in funding it needs this year "means a shortage of food, less capacity to move people to safer areas, and less capacity to shelter themselves," and that its analysis shows many are heading toward Europe after repeated failed attempts to find a safe haven.

A joint inter-agency assessment in the Jebel Marra area of Central Darfur, published this week, found that 69% of the households surveyed in the village of Golol feel insecure most of the time or all of the time, that more than half of the households there shelter in public or abandoned buildings, and that 56% of them lack any latrines. The assessment stated that the closure of donor-funded projects affected 39 health facilities in Central Darfur, with services stopped in 23 of them and reduced in 7 others, with a critical shortage of cholera response kits across the Jebel Marra area.

On the cholera file, the World Health Organization announced that cholera cases in Sudan have declined sharply in recent weeks: only 8 cases and no deaths in the week ending September 11, compared to a peak of 421 cases in the week ending July 3, after months of intensive efforts by health authorities, the organization and its partners. The cumulative total of the outbreak since May remains 2,955 cases and 250 deaths — a fatality rate of 8.4% that far exceeds the organization's threshold of less than 1%.

1️⃣ Sudan's day at the General Assembly: the turn skipped, Guterres' reply, and an African truce Sudan was not granted its scheduled turn to deliver its speech before the UN General Assembly during the September 25 session, after the presidency of the session passed from the representative of Liberia to Bolivia, and the schedule of speakers proceeded as announced, except for Sudan and the Marshall Islands, whose turns were skipped. (Source: Al-Hadaf newspaper citing "Sudan News"). In parallel, the Sudanese mission to the United Nations announced it had received an official reply from Secretary-General António Guterres regarding the US authorities not granting an entry visa to the President of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, to attend the meetings of the 81st session. (Source: SUNA Agency). The African Union also proposed a humanitarian truce and an immediate cessation of hostilities during an international meeting in New York to unify mediation efforts, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, affirmed that the priority is to stop the fighting and begin an inclusive political dialogue led by the Sudanese, with a halt to external military support for the warring parties. (Source: Al-Hadaf newspaper) 💡 Quick reading: The skipped turn, the visa refusal and the conditioning of a truce are three faces of one message: the UN platform and Washington keep Sudan's attendance conditional on a ceasefire, while the African Union pushes collective mediation as an alternative to unilateral decisions. (Analysis)

2️⃣ The Refugee Commission: Those fleeing to Chad jump 20-fold and funding does not arrive The UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced today, Friday, a sharp increase in the number of those fleeing from Sudan to Chad, and that funding is not keeping pace with needs: more than 400 people per day crossed into eastern Chad during the past week, a 20-fold increase over the numbers of the past few months, coming from Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Commission has received only 18% of the $1.6 billion it needs this year, and warned of possible consequences as many head toward Europe after repeated failed attempts to find a safe haven. The United Nations estimates that the war has displaced up to 14 million people, and nearly one million refugees have crossed into Chad since the start of the war, more than 55,000 of them this year alone. (Source: Reuters via the UN High Commissioner for Refugees) 💡 Quick reading: The sudden increase in the flow to Chad is a field indicator of the widening scope of fighting toward Kordofan and Blue Nile, and donors cutting aid threatens to turn the Sudanese crisis into a regional and European migration crisis. (Analysis)

3️⃣ The South file: Salva Kiir dissolves the transitional government and forms a caretaker administration before the elections President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government in South Sudan and established a caretaker administration less than three months before the national elections scheduled for December 22, under a decree announced on September 22 that removed the five vice presidents, ministers and local administrators and dissolved the national and state legislative councils, with him remaining president with full constitutional powers until an elected president is inaugurated. The decision came after an amendment to the Elections Law signed one day earlier, which dropped linking the vote to completing the permanent constitution and the population census, and the National Elections Commission is preparing to begin voter registration, while no prominent figure has yet announced candidacy against Kiir. (Source: ImNews via BBC) 💡 Quick reading: Dissolving the power-sharing institutions resulting from the 2018 agreement three months before the vote puts the integrity of the December elections under a real test, and the absence of any competitor so far makes the result more predetermined than governed. (Analysis)

— Editorial Team