CRS in Sudan

Catholic Relief Services, which has been active in Sudan since 2004, provides life-saving assistance to address the needs of the most vulnerable in conflict-affected and natural disaster-prone areas such as Darfur. CRS also implements longer term programs designed to respond to climate or conflict related shocks through skills building, enhancing basic services and strengthening linkages between local communities and government.  These programs maintain the flexibility to enable them to respond to acute needs, such as El Nino related disasters, where necessary, and build longer term resilience and address chronic vulnerability.

CRS is dedicated to helping families and communities rebuild their lives and uses a multi-sectoral, conflict sensitive approach. Our programs focus on building and strengthening the capacities of local systems, to ensure that they have long-term success. CRS strives to improve the quality of life of communities through promoting peace, social justice, gender inclusion, solidarity and compassion. Our programs are tailored to the needs of local communities and implemented in partnership with various local and international organizations.

CRS' History in Sudan

Catholic Relief Services began working in Sudan in 1978 to help resettle internally displaced Sudanese in Khartoum. In 1982, CRS closed the Khartoum office and moved operations to what is now South Sudan. In 2004, CRS reopened our Sudan country program to respond to the urgent humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to once again assist vulnerable people in the Khartoum area.

In Khartoum and Darfur, we have supported thousands of women to form more than 300 Savings and Internal Lending Communities so that they may increase their levels of income and savings. 

We meet the emergency food, water, education, non-food items and shelter needs of internally displaced people in West and Central Darfur through general food distributions, emergency school feeding programs, latrine rehabilitation and basic infrastructure projects. We also respond to natural disasters, such as flooding in Khartoum.

Since 2006, CRS has responded to the shelter needs of thousands of internally displaced families in West Darfur by providing both environmentally-friendly emergency shelters and innovative transitional shelters.

We have constructed hundreds of classrooms and trained teachers and parent-teacher association members so that tens of thousands of children can attend school.