71 aid workers were killed in Sudan in 2025, OCHA figures show, as funding cuts deepen the crisis
At least 71 humanitarian workers were killed in Sudan in 2025 — the second-highest national toll in the world after Gaza — according to the figures the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published from the Aid Worker Security Database. Dabanga reports that OCHA's Sudan annual report also puts 28 aid workers injured in Sudan in 2025 and describes attacks on aid operations, restricted access and severe funding shortages undermining life-saving assistance, while a separate UN assessment it reports found one in three Sudanese households have lost their livelihoods. The Sudan-specific annual-report figures rest on Dabanga's reporting and are labelled as not yet verified here.
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Key points
- 71 aid workers were killed in Sudan in 2025 — a record for the country and the world's second-highest toll after Gaza, on OCHA's figures.
- Dabanga reports OCHA's Sudan annual report puts 28 more injured, with attacks, access restrictions and funding shortages undermining aid.
- A UN assessment reported by Dabanga found one in three Sudanese households have lost their livelihoods.
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- The Sudan-specific annual-report figures are carried as reported, not yet verified, until the report itself is read.
What happened
Sudan's war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, running since April 2023, has made the country one of the two deadliest places in the world to deliver aid. OCHA's global figures for 2025 — 350 aid workers killed, 322 injured and 235 kidnapped across all countries — were themselves near-record, and most of the victims everywhere were local staff helping their own communities.
The figures arriving now through OCHA's Sudan reporting add the funding dimension: even where aid workers survive, the money to keep health facilities and relief operations running is shrinking, at the same time as household livelihoods collapse across the country.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That 71 aid workers were killed in Sudan in 2025, on OCHA's published figures from the Aid Worker Security Database.
- That Sudan's toll was the world's second-highest after Gaza's 186, and a record for Sudan.
- That the killing has continued globally into 2026, on OCHA's count.
What we don't know yet
- The full findings of OCHA's Sudan annual report — Dabanga's report of it has been read, the report itself not yet.
- Who was responsible for the attacks behind the Sudan figures — the published totals do not attribute them.
- The Sudan-specific aid-worker toll for 2026 so far.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (4)
Why this label: The 71 figure is OCHA's own published World Humanitarian Day statement, citing the Aid Worker Security Database, and the database's own 2026 report carries the same Sudan figure and its record status.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These Sudan-specific details rest on Dabanga's report of OCHA's annual report; the annual report itself has not yet been read directly, so the injured figure and the facilities figure are carried as reported, not settled.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The livelihoods figure rests on Dabanga's report of the assessment; the assessment document itself has not yet been identified and read, so the figure is carried as reported, not settled.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: OCHA's own World Humanitarian Day statement, read in full.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Sudan is the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis, and these figures describe the two ends of its squeeze: the people delivering aid are being killed at a record rate, and the funding that keeps the remaining services open is falling away. Both trends land on the same households the assessment describes — one in three of which have already lost their livelihoods.
Background
Show the background timeline (4)
War breaks out in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Aid-worker fatalities in Sudan rise for a fifth straight year, to a record 71 killed.
For World Humanitarian Day, OCHA publishes the global 2025 figures from the Aid Worker Security Database: 350 killed worldwide, 186 in Gaza, 71 in Sudan.
Dabanga reports OCHA's Sudan annual report — 71 killed and 28 injured in 2025 amid a deepening funding crisis — and a UN assessment finding one in three households have lost their livelihoods.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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Published in Checking state — the 71 killed figure is on OCHA's published record, and the Sudan annual-report details are still being checked against the report itself.