UK aid to Sudan

Findings

• The UK doubled its aid to Sudan and neighbouring countries to £231.3 million in 2024-25, showing strong leadership in response to the crisis. However, the impact of this funding could be strengthened through better staffing, predictable funding and more cross-government action which could unlock greater opportunities.
• Despite the UK’s strong advocacy for women and girls, who face particularly severe challenges, there is a significant gap between the needs on the ground and actual support provided by the international community.
• Following the evacuation of UK staff from Khartoum, the British Office Sudan now operates from Addis Ababa and Nairobi with limited resources for such a complex crisis, and high staff turnover.
• Complex compliance procedures for accessing funding make it difficult for the UK to work directly with Sudanese organisations.
• The UK has maintained strong partnerships with multilateral organisations including the African Union and UN agencies, and its humanitarian programming has reached millions through food security support, malnutrition treatment and protection services.
• UK staff were widely recognised by those ICAI interviewed for their deep expertise, professionalism and commitment.
• In Chad, the UK rapidly scaled up to become a key donor supporting refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region. In South Sudan, the UK has integrated its response to the Sudan crisis into established aid programmes such as those on health and education, supporting internally displaced people, refugees and host communities.

Recommendations

The review makes seven recommendations for strengthening UK engagement. These include ensuring there is sustained high-level political attention on Sudan, developing a clear regional strategy, backing Sudan’s priority status in UK development policy with multi-year protected funding, and adopting more agile aid delivery models.

ICAI calls for the UK to increase direct funding to local organisations and simplify its compliance procedures to better support Sudanese-led responses. The review also recommends more targeted support for women and girls, and urges the government to use lessons from Sudan to rethink international leadership approaches to responding to major crises, given severe global funding pressures and rising humanitarian need worldwide.