Sudanese Refugee Mothers Forced to Give Birth on Roads as Aid Cuts Bite

Maude Ahmad Fadala went into labour inside a transit camp in eastern Chad. No doctors were present. No clean water. No shelter. She delivered her baby alone while humanitarian workers scrambled to find basic supplies that had arrived late by three weeks. The reason: a funding shortfall that has gutted aid operations across the Sahel corridor.

The scene at the camp near Dongou, within Chad's Wadai region, illustrates a crisis deepening by the day. International donors have slashed contributions to agencies supporting Sudanese refugees and internally displaced persons by nearly a quarter since January, according to figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Funding Collapse and Its Economic Ripple Effects

The numbers behind the crisis are stark. The UN sought $2.7 billion for Sudan response operations this year. By March, only $680 million had been pledged, representing a 25% funding gap that has forced agencies to cut food rations, suspend mobile health clinics, and reduce water trucking by half in camps hosting more than 200,000 refugees along the Chad-Sudan border.

For local economies, the consequences are immediate and measurable. Humanitarian supply chains in eastern Chad employ roughly 4,500 local workers across logistics, construction, and services. Each suspension of a programme removes income from small vendors, drivers, and casual labourers who have no other employer in the region.

Labour Markets and Local Business Disruption

Business owners in border towns like Farchana and Bahai report a sharp drop in customer activity as aid workers depart or reduce their presence. A market survey conducted by the International Rescue Committee in February found that 43% of small enterprises in those towns had seen revenues decline by more than a third since aid operations scaled back. Local merchants who supplied bedding, food, and fuel to camps now face cash flow problems that ripple through the wider town economy.

Host Countries Bear the Structural Cost

Chad, which hosts over 400,000 Sudanese refugees, faces a fiscal squeeze. The government has committed to providing land and basic services, yet its own budget for displacement response remains constrained. The World Bank estimates that Chad requires roughly $180 million in additional emergency spending to maintain minimum standards in camps through 2024. Without donor reimbursement, the government must divert resources from other development priorities.

Similar pressures are mounting in South Sudan, where more than 320,000 people have crossed the border since hostilities escalated in April 2023. The World Food Programme already operates there on a shoestring budget, having reduced rations to 60% of the standard calorific target in January.

Private Sector Hesitates as Risk Rises

International companies with interests in the Sahel are watching closely. Aid-dependent regions typically see reduced activity from firms concerned about instability, supply chain disruptions, and reputational risk. Insurance premiums for operations in north-eastern Chad have climbed by an estimated 12% since mid-2023, according to market data from Lloyd's of London affiliates operating in the region.

Investment decisions that were on hold — particularly in agricultural projects planned near refugee hosting areas — have been deferred indefinitely. This matters because those projects were expected to employ thousands and inject capital into local markets.

What the Data Shows About Long-Term Economic Damage

Research from the Overseas Development Institute provides a useful framework. When humanitarian aid falls below a critical threshold in refugee settings, the economic degradation becomes self-reinforcing. Households that cannot meet basic needs reduce spending on nutrition, education, and health. Children are pulled from school. Malnutrition rates climb. This erodes human capital in ways that constrain economic growth for a generation.

Currently, malnutrition rates among children under five in the Dongou transit camp stand at 12.4%, well above the emergency threshold of 10% set by the WHO. That figure will likely worsen if the current ration cuts persist through the rainy season, when road access becomes impossible for months at a time.

Donor Politics Complicate the Response

The funding shortfall reflects shifting donor priorities. Several European governments have redirected humanitarian allocations toward supporting asylum processing within their own borders rather than field operations in source countries. That reallocation reduces available resources precisely where they are most needed.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, known as UNHCR, warned in a March briefing that without fresh pledges by June, it will be forced to suspend cash assistance programmes for an additional 85,000 households across Chad, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Cash assistance programmes are not merely humanitarian instruments — they inject money directly into local markets, stabilising prices and supporting demand for goods and services.

What to Watch in the Coming Weeks

A donor conference convened by Qatar is scheduled for late April in Doha. Several Gulf states have signalled interest in making pledges, though the amounts discussed remain far short of what the UN says is required. Whether those commitments materialise will determine whether agencies can resume suspended services before the rainy season makes logistics impossible.

For businesses and investors tracking the Sahel, the conference outcome matters. Resumption of aid operations restores employment, supports local supply chains, and reduces the probability of social unrest in displacement areas. Continued cuts risk triggering instability that could spill beyond camp boundaries and affect broader commercial operations in the region.