Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed a £5 million UK funding package for Sudan on 1 November 2025, announced at the 21st Manama Dialogue in Bahrain. The support responds to the crisis in and around El Fasher, where fighting and access constraints have sharply intensified humanitarian need.
Within the package, £2 million is reserved to strengthen services for survivors of rape and sexual violence. The remainder will bolster emergency food supplies and medical care. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said delivery would run through established partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund and Cash Consortium Sudan.
Cooper condemned accounts from Darfur of atrocities, mass executions and starvation, alongside reports that rape is being used as a weapon of war. She described Sudan as facing the largest humanitarian crisis of the twenty‑first century. UK government figures also state that around 260,000 people-about half of them children-are trapped in El Fasher in famine‑like conditions and cut off from aid.
Ministers said the new £5 million is additional to the £120 million the UK is providing across Sudan this year, which has included food and health assistance and specialist support for those facing sexual violence. UK diplomats continue to press all parties to cease hostilities, protect civilians and allow unimpeded humanitarian access.
In a separate statement on 27 October, the Foreign Secretary reiterated that both the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces must comply with international humanitarian law and enable safe, rapid and unimpeded access under UN Security Council Resolution 2736. That update referenced an additional £5 million channelled to the Sudan Cash Consortium, with around two‑thirds directed to the most vulnerable in North Darfur.
Today’s pledge sits alongside a renewed diplomatic push. Cooper said relief alone cannot end the crisis without a ceasefire and called for coordinated international action to stop the war. The UK says it will continue working with partners to pursue access, accountability for abuses and a political route to peace.