As 2026 begins, the situation in both Sudan and South Sudan is deteriorating further.
Sudan remains divided militarily between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), in which Islamist elements appear lately to have gained strength, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which massacred thousands of civilians in December, when it overran El Fasher, largest city in Darfur. The RSF appears to have been gaining ground in Kordofan Nothing more has been heard from President Trump’s and Secretary of State Rubio’s efforts to persuade the Gulf arms suppliers to cease their lethal contribution to the conflict.
In South Sudan, the SPLM/IO (the military element associated with imprisoned former Vice President Riek Machar) appears to have gained ground with defection in Jonglei by the commander and forces from the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA). One report indicates fighting going on in 10 states.
Meanwhile, courageous civilians are displaying astounding courage and resourcefulness]by staffing Emergency Response Rooms and saving lives in all parts of conflict-ravaged Sudan. Take a look below, where our Board member Tom Staal, a retired Counselor of the U.S. Agency for International Development, describes these ERRs.
AFRECS will do what we can in 2026 to promote a peaceful solution in Sudan, providing emergency assistance to the Episcopal Church there, as it attempts to meet food and shelter needs of the myriad displaced. In South Sudan we hope to reinforce our engagement with the Episcopal University and to expand our program of trauma healing with the Episcopal Mothers’ Union and Five Talents. We will continue emergency aid to Episcopal dioceses in Northern Bahr al-Ghazal and Upper Nile, which serve destitute refugees still pouring south across the border from Sudan.
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Executive Director