Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is a world-renowned emergency medical organisation dedicated to providing emergency healthcare to populations in crisis. Established in 1971, MSF has become globally recognized for its rapid-response capacity, commitment to neutrality, and field-based humanitarian interventions in complex emergencies, including armed conflicts, epidemics, and natural disasters. The organization operates in over 70 countries, delivering essential medical care, vaccination campaigns, surgical interventions, mental health support, and public health programs in areas often inaccessible to conventional healthcare systems. MSF emphasizes evidence-based medical practices, continuous research, and adherence to international humanitarian principles to ensure the delivery of high-quality care under extreme conditions.

Sudan is currently facing one of the most severe and multifaceted humanitarian crises in the world. Since the outbreak of armed conflict in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the country has been engulfed in escalating violence, inter-communal clashes, widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, and a near-total collapse of its health system. The situation is particularly acute in Khartoum and West Darfur, where systematic attacks on healthcare facilities, mass population displacement, and severe restrictions on humanitarian access have been reported.

Widespread reports also indicate the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, particularly against women and girls. Humanitarian and human rights organizations have documented systematic rape, gang rape, and abduction during house raids, at checkpoints, and in detention. Survivors face serious medical, psychological, and social challenges, while access to care and protection services remains extremely limited. Targeting women in this way has become a tool of fear and control, forcing communities to flee and causing long-lasting trauma.

More than 25 million people in Sudan require humanitarian assistance. Millions are internally displaced, and over one million have sought refuge across the border in eastern Chad, where overcrowded and under-resourced camps are struggling to meet basic survival needs. In Sudan and Chad, MSF has maintained a longstanding presence, addressing health crises caused by conflict, displacement, famine, and endemic diseases.

In Sudan, MSF has provided healthcare, malnutrition treatment, and vaccination campaigns since 1979, while also operating mobile clinics, implementing water and sanitation programs, and running HIV and tuberculosis (TB) initiatives. When the current conflict erupted, MSF adapted its activities: some routine services continued, while others were paused or redirected to address urgent emerging needs.

MSF has also supported displaced Sudanese populations in neighboring South Sudan and Chad, rapidly scaling up its emergency response to assist hundreds of thousands of refugees. In Chad, where MSF has been active since 1977, the organization strengthened its operations following the influx of Sudanese refugees in spring 2023, particularly at the camps of Adré, Métché, Aboutengué, Daguéssa, and Goz-Aschiyé. Due to limited local infrastructure and minimal presence of other organizations in some remote desert areas, MSF staff established and managed a basic hospital in Adré and operated mobile clinics to provide essential medical services to people settled around the camps.

In 2024, the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation (NaEPF), steadfast in its commitment to responding to humanitarian emergencies worldwide, supported Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) emergency interventions in Sudan and Chad. This contribution helped sustain life-saving services in El Geneina, Khartoum, Adré, and Aboutengué, resulting in over 344,000 outpatient consultations, the construction of 1,650 latrine blocks, 67,000 vaccinations, and the widespread distribution of shelter and hygiene supplies. Building on these results, the NaEPF renewed its support to MSF in Chad and Sudan for 2025, extending its commitment for another year.

MSF’s intervention focuses on four priority locations (two in Sudan and two in Chad) aiming to ensure the continuity of life-saving healthcare, strengthen local health systems, and address critical gaps in water, sanitation, hygiene, and protection for populations affected by conflict.