Sudan - Concept of Operations, June 2026

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Background

Since the outbreak of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, Sudan has faced one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Nearly 8.9 million people are internally displaced – including more than 6.6 million displaced since the conflict began. This represents a 23 percent decrease from the peak of almost 11.6 million recorded in January 2025, reflecting increased returns, particularly to Khartoum and Al Jazirah. Nearly 4.6 million people have fled to neighbouring countries. The crisis has also exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Chad and South Sudan, both of which were already dealing with protracted emergencies. 

In 2026, 33.7 million people in Sudan require humanitarian assistance – an increase of 3.3 million from 2025. Despite these overwhelming needs, access constraints, bureaucratic and administrative impediments, an overstretched logistics market, storage constraints, and rising costs for logistics services continue to hinder the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. Crossline and cross-border movement of humanitarian personnel and supplies continue to face significant obstacles.  

To address these logistical challenges and mitigate disruptions to the humanitarian supply chain, the Logistics Cluster has been scaling up its operations since 2023 (following its initial activation in 2020). With the main operational cell based in Port Sudan, the Logistics Cluster leads coordination, advocates for the uninterrupted flow of assistance, and supports humanitarian partners operating across the country.

Operational Constraints

Humanitarian organizations are facing significant operational challenges due to factors including movement restrictions, airspace closures, limited safe access to conflict-affected areas, complex deconfliction processes, bureaucratic impediments, and telecommunications constraints, among others. These issues are significantly hindering the delivery of assistance to affected populations. 

Partners have reported the following logistics gaps and bottlenecks impacting their operations, including through the Gaps and Needs Analysis (GNA) published in August 2025:

• Limited humanitarian access to hard-to-reach areas, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan regions.
• Limited operational points of entry into Sudan and restrictions on crossline movements due to ongoing conflict and insecurity.
• Limited ability to contract reliable transportation and storage services due to security constraints, an overstretched market, rising costs, and service disruptions.
• Insufficient temperature-controlled storage and transport capacity, particularly for cross-border corridors.
• Limited information on logistics service providers’ availability and capacity, market conditions, and road network and infrastructure status, particularly during the rainy season.
• Bureaucratic and administrative impediments, including lengthy and frequently changing customs and importation procedures and travel permit approval delays.
• Airspace closure except for limited air access in Port Sudan, Khartoum, Kassala, and Dongola.
• Limited fuel availability and rising costs in certain areas.

Points of Entry

Air: Port Sudan International Airport is the only international airport open and operational for both humanitarian and commercial flights. UNHAS is currently providing humanitarian flights from Nairobi, Kenya, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Port Sudan. From Port Sudan, UNHAS operates flights to Khartoum, Kassala and Dongola. UNHAS also operates flights to several locations in Chad, including Farchana, Abeche, Guereda, and Adre, among others. The expansion of air services to additional locations across Sudan remains dependent on access and security conditions, and the issuance of clearances from the relevant authorities. The latest UNHAS flight schedules are regularly published on the Sudan Logistics Cluster website. 

Road: The following road entry points are officially authorised for use by the GoS:

• Adre, Chad: Considered the most operationally relevant due to its location in relation to target areas in Darfur.
• Tine/Tina, Chad: Partners have reported significant bureaucratic and administrative impediments when trying to cross through this point.
• Renk/Rabak, South Sudan: Partners have reported bureaucratic impediments when trying to use this entry point.
• Argeen, Egypt: Partners are increasingly using this border crossing to reach the Darfur and Kordofan regions. While generally viable, partners have reported congestion, limited infrastructure, and clearance delays at the border crossing. After entering Sudan, cargo usually transits via Dongola or Al Dabbah in Northern State.
• Kurmuk; Yabus; and Galabat/Metema, Ethiopia: Partners have experienced complex and lengthy customs processes at these entry points.

Eritrea and Central African Republic are not currently under consideration as transport corridors due to their complex operating environments; and routes from Libya are not being considered due to insecurity.

Sea: The Port Sudan seaport is operational.

Transportation

Crossline road transportation from Port Sudan to southern and western areas of the country is challenging due to bureaucratic impediments, insecurity, and damage to infrastructure. While there is sufficient availability of commercial transporters, partners report significantly elevated prices mainly due to the heightened security constraints along transport routes and the high cost of fuel. Transporters may be reluctant to operate in conflict-affected areas given the high level of risks. Due to these constraints, partners are working with transporters to assess the feasibility of alternative routes. 

The Logistics Cluster has supported the operational planning and coordination of humanitarian road convoys. However, these movements have faced challenges, as partners often receive permits at different times – or, in some cases, are denied permits altogether. Staff movement restrictions and telecommunications network outages have impacted the ability of partners to gather information on road conditions which are heavily impacted during the rainy season. Partners have reported that transporters have limited capacity to meet cold-chain and temperature-controlled transportation needs, especially from Chad.

Storage

There is limited storage capacity (including temperature-controlled storage) in many locations across Sudan, particularly around border regions. Establishing and maintaining warehouses remains a challenge for both the Logistics Cluster and partners due to the ongoing conflict. Many partners have reported damage to and looting of their facilities. 

Fuel

Fuel is primarily imported, making the market vulnerable to external shocks and price volatility. Fuel prices increased sharply in April 2026, particularly for diesel, driven by external market disruptions and currency depreciation, impacting humanitarian operations. This upward trend is expected to continue due to these factors, as well as anticipated increased demand during the upcoming summer period. WFP provides fuel to partners through On-Demand Services (ODS) on a cost-recovery basis through Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in various locations across Sudan, as well as in Chad.

Customs

Partners have reported significant bureaucratic impediments to the clearance of humanitarian commodities, especially medical supplies. 

Telecommunications Challenges

Damage to telecommunications infrastructure due to the ongoing conflict has degraded service availability and further strained the already deteriorated national power grid. The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) currently provides internet connectivity services in seven locations and plans to expand connectivity to locations to the Darfur and Kordofan regions, access and security permitting. Limited connectivity in hard-to-reach locations significantly impacts response efforts, particularly in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, affecting the availability of cash and fuel, and the ability of partners to gather key logistics information. The lack of telecommunications services in certain areas impedes access negotiations that enable logistics operations, which rely on the ability to contact key actors along the transport routes.

Objectives and Planned Activities

Based on the current operational constraints and logistics gaps, and in line with the 2026 Humanitarian Response Plan, the Sudan Logistics Cluster aims to facilitate coordination and access to key logistics-related information, and to provide common logistics services as a provider of last resort (PoLR) to enable a timely and uninterrupted supply of life-saving relief items to affected populations in Sudan. This Concept of Operations aims to deliver on the following objectives:

1. Coordination and Information Management: The Logistics Cluster will leverage the logistics knowledge and expertise of responding humanitarian organisations to jointly evaluate the operational situation and support a coordinated humanitarian logistics response. It will collect, analyse, and share relevant logistics information to ensure continuity of operations, monitor evolving support needs, and identify gaps and bottlenecks in the humanitarian community’s operational capabilities. Where possible – and in line with its mandate and available funding – the Logistics Cluster will work to address these challenges. Additionally, it will support cross-border monitoring arrangements for United Nations (UN) humanitarian consignments crossing from Chad into Sudan via the Adre border crossing, contributing to transparent cross-border operations. Finally, it will continue to advocate for improved logistical access to support partner interventions. 
    
2. Common Services and Logistics Capacity Augmentation: The Logistics Cluster will support the humanitarian community by providing equipment, services, and technical expertise to augment the logistics capabilities of the humanitarian community to deliver emergency assistance. It will facilitate the provision of common services to address identified gaps, as outlined in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The following services will be made available to the humanitarian community until December 2026 and may be reviewed as the context evolves. The Logistics Cluster is closely monitoring the situation and continuing to assess partners’ capacity and needs in the event of situational changes that could lead to a scale-up in humanitarian interventions.