On 4 March 2009, Oxfam and 12 other international aid agencies were expelled from Northern Sudan by the Sudanese government. Given the enormous humanitarian needs in the Darfur region, we appealed against the decision, and we continue to try and reach an agreement with the Government of Sudan. Oxfam continues to work in Southern Sudan, helping communities recover from one of the world’s longest conflicts, in one of the poorest regions on earth.

Oxfam in Northern Sudan

Darfur was Oxfam’s biggest single emergency programme in the world, providing vital humanitarian aid for more than 400,000 people affected by the ongoing conflict. The area of Darfur is around 106,000 square miles. It’s the size of France or Texas , and almost twice the size of the UK .

There are 4.3 million people in Darfur who are affected by the conflict and still in need of humanitarian assistance. At least 2.7 million Darfuris have fled their homes to escape GOS and militia attacks (2.4m of them becoming internally displaced in Darfur; the rest becoming refugees in Chad). The number of people killed during the Darfur crisis is unconfirmed: most reports say around 200,000; the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator John Holmes recently said 300,000 might have died; the Government of Sudan claims only 9,000 have died.

The crisis in Darfur remains extremely serious. Following the expulsion of Oxfam and other organisations, the remaining agencies, along with the United Nations, have made concerted efforts to sustain the supply of life-saving aid. But education, livelihoods and protection projects – the type of work needed if Darfurians are ever to recover and rebuild their lives – have been particularly badly affected.