The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Denise Brown, warned on Sunday that the African country is being “abandoned.”

The global rollback of humanitarian assistance, as well as the proliferation of armed conflict and climate disasters, has squeezed humanitarian organizations to the brink, and the global response to Sudan has been especially inadequate. So far, the UN’s appeal to raise $2.8 billion to provide aid to Sudan has only met 16 percent of its goal.

Brown called on the international community to do more to prevent catastrophes before they happen, in particular noting the role played by the flow of weapons and broader war economy.

“Please don’t call this a forgotten crisis,” stated Brown. “I’m referring to this as an abandoned crisis.”

Mass food insecurity has also exacerbated suffering in the region, with famines declared in Al Fasher and Kadugli, as well as significant risk of famine across the Darfur and Kordofan regions. According to the World Food Programme, 34 million people urgently need humanitarian assistance.

Brown noted that grassroots level community initiatives have worked to support peace and reduce hate speech. However without resources of UN member states, little can be done to address the immediate concerns of the Sudanese people.

Years of political instability erupted into a civil war in 2023. Since then, the conflict has been marked by widespread human rights abuses and endemic violations of international humanitarian law, including sexual violence and armed attacks directed at civilians.

The United Arab Emirates has come under fire for its role in supplying arms to the Sudanese insurgent group, the Rapid Support Forces, which has been implicated in mass killings bearing the “hallmarks of genocide.”