Dispatches from Sudan: How Cash Assistance Protects Lives

"On a daily basis, we are losing dozens and hundreds of children and women in Sudan.”

-Omnia, NiDAA Volunteer

Sudan is in crisis. Since war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces, at least 20,000 people have been killed, 13 million have fled from their homes, and 25 million people are facing ongoing food insecurity. The situation is dire, and there have been no signs of a ceasefire.

CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) has been in Sudan since 2023, assisting those impacted by this ongoing and complex conflict. With the Sudanese Development Call Organization (NiDAA), CORE has supported 43 community-based organizations (CBOs) in and around Khartoum, the nation’s capital, where the fighting has often been most fierce. These CBOs have reached thousands of women and families by providing much-needed healthcare, nutrition, and psychosocial support, as well as offering spaces that give protection and support to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).

For women and girls, this time has been especially perilous, as the war has disproportionately impacted them. According to the UN, there’s been a 100% increase in the need for gender-based violence-related services. Many fear that the number of GBV incidents has been dramatically underreported due to stigma and a lack of resources.

A NiDAA staff member signing up a potential recipient for Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance.

NiDAA staff working on the ground have seen this conflict’s impact on women firsthand and shared their insight with CORE. According to Omnia, a volunteer at one of the CBOs, she sees the broad scope of dangers that women and young children face daily.

She said, “Whether from clashes within neighborhoods, random bombings, disease outbreaks epidemics, lack of access to life-saving medicines, lack of access to health care, lack of access to health centers…On a daily basis, we are losing dozens and hundreds of children and women in Sudan.”

Women in particular are at heightened risk. NiDAA staffer Abrar underscores the conditions that exist that make things especially challenging for women and children. There’s violence and insecurity, which leads to constant danger then, health care shortages, lack of education, poverty, and psychological impact. Each one of these directly and disproportionally affects women.

As part of CORE’s long-term programming that aims to help women in need, staff are signing people up for multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA). People often wonder, ‘Why cash?’ Simply speaking, cash is effective in complex situations like the ongoing conflict in Sudan. In places where things can change quickly, it can be increasingly difficult for aid agencies or nonprofits to get in-kind aid, like food, water, and clothing, into impacted areas.

Cash offers people the ability to go to local merchants and purchase items that they urgently need for themselves. Cash assistance is also safe. People don’t have to gather in a centralized location to receive support. Instead, they have the freedom to go out, when it’s often safest, to get what they need at that moment and where they can get it.

NiDAA staff has seen the incredible impact that receiving MPCA has had on women and families with small children. Rawan, a NiDAA staff member, said: “Cash assistance promotes the empowerment of women and children, helping them meet and cover their personal needs, which are, of course, different from the needs of the family as a whole. Direct cash assistance protects them [women and children] from being exploited by a third party, as we can protect a minor from early marriage and protect a child from recruitment or life-threatening work.”

CORE’s work with NiDAA is life-changing and life-saving. So far, CORE has supported more than 3,000 people with MPCA, making an immediate impact in their lives. None of this would have been possible without NiDAA and our financial service provider, Red Rose.

CORE hopes for a swift end to the fighting and will continue to prioritize the important cash programming that is making a difference and providing a safer life for at-risk women and children.

If you’d like to learn more about our ongoing programs in Sudan and support our work, please visit our response page.