News & Updates
Check out the latest from Sudan and our movement
When classrooms crumble, so does opportunity for refugees
As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim.
As war rages in Sudan, across the border in Yida Refugee Camp something extraordinary is still happening: children are going to school.
•••••
In 2014, we began funding four Nuba teachers in Yida Refugee Camp —just south of the Nuba Mountains— who were teaching under a tree. All they had was a half broken chalkboard. Over the years and with our help they have grown their efforts into the Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools, where 22 local teachers serve more than 700 students every week.
But across Sudan, children are in crisis. Most schools have closed from the war, and it’s estimated over 19 million children are out of a classroom. Many may never return. Refugee camps like Yida are some of the only places where Sudanese children can safely access education right now.
Even after escaping unimaginable violence or having been born in Yida, these students show up each day eager to learn. Their teachers —refugees themselves— are passionate, dedicated, and resilient. Together, they’re making progress despite difficult circumstances. But classrooms are under significant strain, and two urgent needs are putting learning at risk:
🛠️ Classrooms need critical repairs. Cracked walls and leaky roofs make it hard to focus and are not safe. Repairs have already begun, but we need to raise $2,400 to complete repairs so students have a safe space to learn.
👨🏾🏫 Most chalkboards are in their final days. Worn down from years of use, some are becoming unusable. Teachers are doing their best but it is time to replace them. Another $1,700 will provide brand-new chalkboards across the classrooms.
These may seem like simple things and don’t cost much money. But to a teacher trying to reach dozens of students in a packed classroom, or to a child eager to learn, they make all the difference. Your generosity today helps build stronger classrooms —and brighter futures— for Sudanese children who have already overcome so much.
Make a donation or set up a small monthly gift to support these teachers and students:
$1,200 - Fund half of all needed repairs at the schools.
$850 - Deliver 6 new chalkboards to our classrooms.
$500 - Help purchase and deliver weatherproofing materials that can’t be sourced locally.
$140 - Give a chalkboard to a classroom.
$50 - Help purchase roofing materials locally.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence with Schools written in the memo line and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Can’t give? Sign up for Miles For Sudan, our global event to aid Sudanese heroes!
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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As war rages in Sudan, across the border in Yida Refugee Camp something extraordinary is still happening: children are going to school. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/when-classrooms-crumble-so-does-opportunity-for-refugees
Cracked walls and leaky roofs make it hard to focus and are not safe. Repairs have already begun, but we need to raise $2,400 to complete repairs so students have a safe space to learn. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/when-classrooms-crumble-so-does-opportunity-for-refugees
Worn down from years of use, some chalkboards will soon be unusable. We need to raise $1,700 to provide brand-new chalkboards across our classrooms: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/when-classrooms-crumble-so-does-opportunity-for-refugees
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/when-classrooms-crumble-so-does-opportunity-for-refugees
Fire & Ashes: Marking two years of war in Sudan
As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim.
The brutal invasion of a displacement camp in North Darfur encapsulates what two years of extreme warfare, mass killings, and hunger have done to Sudan.
•••••
On April 13, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, a place that should be safe and secure, but instead has been under violent siege for over a year. The camp lies several miles to the south of El Fasher —capital of North Darfur— which is being defended by the army’s 6th Infantry Division and pro-army militias from a brutal onslaught by the RSF.
What is unfolding in Zamzam at the time of this posting can only be described as a living nightmare. Early reports suggest hundreds of people have already been killed —including pregnant mothers and children— as well as nine local humanitarian workers who appear to have been executed by the RSF. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing into nearby rural areas, and it appears the RSF is choking off the main road to El Fasher.
Zamzam was already one of the largest camps for displaced Sudanese. Most all of the adults and older teens living here have already survived at least one war or massacre. Some younger children born in Zamzam have never been able to leave. All have nowhere else to flee. This attack is an ongoing, deliberate assault on vulnerable minority civilians who have already lost nearly everything, and it bears the dark hallmarks of the El Geneina Massacre that the RSF committed in the early days of this war. We will provide a more extensive update soon.
Sudan Crisis Guide
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
Today marks two years since the army and RSF went to war for control of a country that wants neither in charge. The crimes being committed in Zamzam are a brutal snapshot of what this senseless crisis is doing to Sudan.
No one knows the true death toll, but a conservative estimate based on very limited data suggests well over 200,000 civilians have already perished from violence and famine. It is estimated that 8.7 million Sudanese have descended into near-famine or famine conditions, and 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes or have left Sudan as refugees. Countless communities have been burned to the ground and some pockets of the country can no longer sustain human life.
And yet, this war continues with almost no international spotlight. There is no bold peace process. There is far less humanitarian relief to go around than there was one year ago. Most of the world remains silent while the Sudanese people endure what has become the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency on the planet.
A fractured state with no military solution
As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim. The army’s grinding offensive through central —including the recent capture of Khartoum— will likely reach the eastern edge of the Darfur provinces in the coming weeks. It is somewhere here that their advance will probably hit a brick wall, as the RSF is deeply entrenched in Darfur and capable of projecting much more military force across all five provinces, as is being seen now in Zamzam.
Where that will leave Sudan is unknown; but, one once unthinkable possibility now looms large. With no peace deal in sight and both sides obsessed with finding a military solution, a more permanently divided Sudan is becoming increasingly likely.
Abroad, the army and RSF are desperate to be seen as Sudan’s legitimate rulers; but, inside the country’s borders, both are entrenching their own “governments.” The army by seizing control of largely shattered governing civilian institutions; the RSF by trying to create a separate parallel governing system from scratch. Both sides are vying to stand up their own police forces and minimally trying —and failing—to offer a few basic services, mostly to their favored ethnic groups.
Map: A rough visualization of areas of control. “l.r.” stands for local resistance, with both of those armed groups having spent much of this war defending their territory and ethnic minority populations against the army and RSF. Click or tap to expand. (source)
Partition, then, is no longer hypothetical. There need not be an independence declaration, sham referendum, or international recognition of a new state coming out of Sudan for the country to become effectively divided in a longer-term fashion. The lack of a decisive military victory by either side will leave at least three political/military sub-states inside Sudan’s borders —including the already largely autonomous southern Nuba Mountains— if not more. Much deeper, systemic problems beneath the surface of the atrocities will be enough to enforce such a devastating status quo.
For the army, the generals lust for power at all costs is leading them to recruiting tribal militias and extreme Islamist groups, either directly into their ranks or by arming such factions and having them operate parallel to the army. These alliances are extremely dangerous for a myriad of reasons. Many of these groups believe they have scores to settle with other Sudanese or wish to see Sudan return to something like the dark days of the now defunct Bashir regime. They also risk turning Sudan’s war into a broader regional conflict, one that could reignite long-simmering tensions along the country’s borders and further drag in outside powers.
Meanwhile, it must be recognized that the RSF’s cancerous roots stretch far beyond Sudan’s borders. The paramilitaries have connections to shadowy armed networks across the Sahel, with ethnic and logistical ties as nearby as Chad, the Central African Republic, and Libya to as far away as Niger and Mali. In the past the RSF has also welcomed support from Russia and the United Arab Emirates, and is likely still receiving considerable assistance from the latter. These relationships are multifaceted —sometimes even nonsensical— but ultimately serve as recruitment pipelines and supply routes, allowing the RSF to move foreign fighters, weapons, and fuel into Darfur with little effort. The dangers that flow back in the other direction can be a mystery, but they certainly include unaccountable fighters with hefty combat experience and weapons flowing back into their home countries.
Needless to say, the disastrous consequences of such an effective partition won’t stop at Sudan’s borders, but it will still be the Sudanese people who suffer the most. In this future, the RSF would be free to complete its multiple genocides of various Darfuri African tribes. The hundreds of thousands of African Darfuris who were forced to flee Sudan would never be able to return to their homelands. And the army and their newer allies would carry out killings in areas under their control.
This dark future is not set in stone though, even if it seems more likely on this grim anniversary. Nonviolent civilian resistance has shown remarkable resilience against the evils of the army and RSF, as well as brought some relief to the deplorable living conditions both sides are inflicting on the Sudanese people. Every day, brave Sudanese open small institutions in the form of soup kitchens and underground clinics, help deliver humanitarian aid to the vulnerable, and chronicle the atrocities being committed against them. Countless of these heroes have been killed, but it is their struggle that is keeping hope for a better future alive.
And what can friends of Sudan do?
Two years of war have pushed Sudan to the brink. But war alone didn’t get us here: inaction did. Indifference did. The silence of the international community did. None of this can be undone. The lives lost in the massacres at El Geneina, Zamzam, northern and eastern Gezira, and countless other places cannot be brought back. And while the Sudanese people continue to carry this unimaginable weight, it should not be theirs to carry alone.
We can choose to stand beside the Sudanese people in real, tangible ways. But these ways must be direct. Expressions of solidarity on social media may feel righteous, but posting online doesn’t help a mother and her children who lost everything find a way to thrive. Taking an awareness-raising or advocacy-only approach at a time when the global system is under extreme stress will yield too few good fruits, if any at all. Even now, as it feels as if more people are paying attention to the ideas of dignity, justice, and peace that have long animated the Sudanese people, the danger is that we mistake having awareness for direct action.
Our friends in Sudan can’t afford that mistake. Not when every day brings more hunger, more displacement, and more death. Sudan’s future still belongs to the Sudanese people. Our job is to do what we can to help them alleviate real suffering and begin to reverse the injustices, now. And that starts, frankly, with money. Program by program and day by day, lives can still be saved and made better through the heroic, small, and local institutions ordinary Sudanese are fighting to build up.
The Sudanese can’t live in the apology owed to them, one they are not likely to get anyways. They have to live in their homes: safe, free from fear, and prosperous. Anything less will be another atrocity.
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as war and hunger spread. By joining Miles For Sudan or giving below, you will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
Can’t participate? Make a donation or set up a small monthly gift instead:
$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.
$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.
$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor and food relief in the El Fasher/Zamzam area in North Darfur, Sudan.
$50 - Helps bring school supplies to students in Yida Refugee Camp.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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As Sudan enters a third year of war, the path forward feels more uncertain than ever, and increasingly grim. With no peace deal in sight and both sides obsessed with finding a military solution, a more permanently divided Sudan is becoming increasingly likely. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
The brutal invasion of a displacement camp in North Darfur encapsulates what two years of extreme warfare, mass killings, and hunger have done to Sudan. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
Today marks two years since the army and RSF went to war for control of a country that wants neither in charge. Learn more and discover ways to help: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
The Sudanese can’t live in the apology owed to them, one they are not likely to get anyways. They have to live in their homes: safe, free from fear, and prosperous. Anything less will be just another atrocity. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/fire-and-ashes-marking-two-years-of-war-in-sudan
Sudan Crisis - What You Need To Know
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
This guide is for those trying to learn more about the emergency in Sudan. We regularly update this page with relevant information. The last update was April 8, 2025.
The best way to stay updated about Sudan is to sign up for our free email list. You can also discover ways to help at the end of this guide.
Background
Sudan is a beautiful country in northeast Africa, just south of Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. Sitting at the crossroads of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, Sudan is one of the more culturally and ethnically diverse countries in the world. Over 50 million people live here and it is the third largest country in Africa by area.
A brutal war broke out in Sudan in April 2023 between the national army and a renegade paramilitary force:
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) - the country’s official military that includes the army, air force, and navy.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - a regional paramilitary group created by a previous military regime.
Several intelligence units, police forces, and local militias have taken sides in the conflict as well. Some of Sudan’s rebel groups from previous wars have too, while others are trying to remain neutral and are defending their own territory and people groups. Additionally, the RSF hires a minimal number of mercenaries from across the Sahel and forces foreign nationals in Sudan into joining the paramilitary group.
Gunfire between the two sides erupted in Khartoum on April 15, 2023. Both sides failed to decapitate each others’ leadership and extreme warfare quickly spread across the country.
Why are SAF and RSF fighting?
SAF and RSF used to be allies, but that changed after they overthrew a civilian reform government in October 2021. RSF commander Mohamed Dagalo (aka Hemeti) sees himself as Sudan’s rightful dictator, while SAF generals believe they are the true government. It’s important to know that the vast majority of Sudanese want a democratic civilian government —neither the SAF nor RSF— to be in charge. There are also significant ethnic dimensions in this war that should not be ignored:
SAF - Top army brass are mostly Nile Valley Arabs, representing the most elite and privileged ethnic groups in the country. The army is fairly diverse with soldiers from most parts of the country. Arab racism toward African tribes exists in SAF, which explains why army units have executed civilians on an ethnic basis as well.
RSF- Top RSF commanders and most of their fighters hail from Arab tribes in the western Darfur region. The bulk of the RSF adheres to an extremely racist, Arab-supremacist ideology stating that Darfur’s historic African tribal groups must be cleansed from the region and that all other Sudanese Arabs are inferior.
Sudan is home to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency, far outpacing every other crisis in the world.
Extreme violence has gutted the capital city of Khartoum. Countless towns and villages are being destroyed. Many farmers cannot work. The economy has disintegrated and prices of basic goods are skyrocketing. Most schools are closed.
This is just as much a war on the Sudanese people as it is a conflict between the army and RSF. The RSF is targeting ethnic African minorities for extermination and SAF is blocking aid access to large swaths of the country. War crimes are being committed en masse by both sides. The results are horrifying:
No one knows the true death toll, but a conservative estimate based on very limited data suggests more than 200,000 civilians have already perished from violence and hunger.
Nearly 30 million Sudanese — over half of the entire country— are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. It is estimated that 8.7 million Sudanese have descended into near-famine or famine conditions.
Roughly 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes or have left Sudan as refugees. That’s nearly one in three of all Sudanese.
Over 80% of the country’s healthcare system is offline. Preventable and treatable diseases are spreading quickly.
19 million children have no classroom to attend as 90% of schools are closed. This is the largest childhood education crisis in the world.
The state of the war right now
Today, SAF and its allies control the north and east of the country and parts of central and southern Sudan, while also maintaining a foothold in the North Darfur capital of El Fasher. The RSF controls almost all of western Sudan and parts of central and southern Sudan.
SAF and their allies have launched multiple counteroffensives the past few months, reclaiming Khartoum and additional territory amidst heavy fighting in south central Sudan. The frontlines shifting in favor of the army likely won’t see much improvement in living conditions, although not being under the terror of RSF rule is being broadly welcomed in communities the army is capturing. Neither SAF nor the RSF can achieve a decisive victory anytime soon, and it is the Sudanese people who are bearing the heaviest burdens.
The below map shows approximate areas of control in Sudan as of March 31, 2025. If you’ve been tracking the war with us for some time now, then you can see just how much the RSF is faltering, especially in central and south-central Sudan.
Map: l.r. stands for local resistance, with both of those armed groups having spent much of this war defending their territory and ethnic minority populations against the army and RSF. Click or tap to expand. (source)
What are world leaders doing to stop the war?
Most world leaders have chosen to ignore the catastrophe unfolding in Sudan. The few diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire have failed. International aid efforts are only 10% funded for all of 2025, meaning acute hunger is even being felt in the refugee camps outside of Sudan —where it is much easier to get aid in— simply because there is not enough attention.
To make matters worse, the recent chaos the Trump Administration has inflicted on USAID —one of the largest providers of lifesaving food relief in Sudan— has resulted in the reported closure of over 75% of Sudanese-run emergency food kitchens, threatening to push more areas of the country into full-blown famine. Meanwhile, some countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Russia are making the crisis worse by funneling weapons and resources to either SAF or the RSF.
Ordinary Sudanese across the country are still struggling to help their neighbors survive by keeping public kitchens open for the hungry. The international community could and should be doing much more to support the Sudanese people directly, including throwing its full weight behind Sudanese citizen initiatives to pull their country back from the brink of failed statehood.
March 2025 Generosity
Our supporters gave $22,345 to Sudanese heroes, including aid workers, teachers, and healthcare professionals. This money is being used right now to save and change lives.
MEET OUR PARTNERS ➡
What can I do to help?
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as war and hunger spread. By joining Miles For Sudan or giving below, you will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
Can’t participate? Make a donation or set up a small monthly gift instead:
$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.
$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.
$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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How is this not the biggest story in the world right now‽ https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
It’s not in the news, but the world’s largest humanitarian emergency is unfolding in Sudan. I found this informative guide to be really helpful in understanding the situation: https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
Sudan is home to the largest and most dangerous humanitarian emergency, far outpacing every other crisis in the world. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. For over a decade, we've allied people just like you with incredible Sudanese heroes on the ground. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/sudan-crisis-2024-what-you-need-to-know
Army captures Khartoum, ending months-long siege
After months of block-by-block fighting in sister cities and outlying neighborhoods, the army has wrested Khartoum away from the Rapid Support Forces.
After months of fighting block-by-block through Khartoum's sister cities and outlying neighborhoods, the army has wrested Sudan's destroyed capital region away from the Rapid Support Forces.
•••••
In the end, the army invasion of Khartoum proved to be far more anticlimactic than expected. Long-running concerns that a protracted battle in Sudan’s decimated capital region would completely destroy what is left of the city did not pan out. Instead, invading army units moved swiftly through Khartoum as Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters disobeyed orders from high command, fleeing west across the Jebel Awlia Dam Bridge, the last Nile crossing still in their hands.
Sudan Crisis Guide
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
Army soldiers seized the Presidential Palace on March 21. Additional units began pouring into Khartoum from the east and south over the next few days. By March 26, the army had captured the central bank and international airport.
Gunfire could be heard throughout the invasion, but there were few signs of recent heavy combat. The small number RSF fighters who did not escape were quickly killed or captured. Over the past several days, army soldiers have been securing key installations around the capital, including the Yarmuk military-industrial complex and Central Reserve Police headquarters.
Khartoum is now eerily quiet after months of explosions and gunfire inching closer and closer to the battered and hungry capital, a welcome relief to those Sudanese who never had the resources to escape in the early days of the war.
An invasion long-anticipated
The RSF took the Greater Khartoum Area in the early days of the war, minus a small number of army enclaves that were promptly placed under siege. Army generals began serious preparations to retake Khartoum well over a year ago, launching a mass recruitment drive in territory under its control and outfitting key units with heavy weaponry and new drones. By February 2024, a mass buildup of soldiers and pro-army militias north of the Greater Khartoum area was completed.
The first sledgehammer fell almost exactly one year ago, when the army launched a combined arms offensive in neighboring Omdurman that included thousands of fresh troops, heavy artillery, drones, and airstrikes. RSF forces in Omdurman were decimated in a matter of days. In September 2024 army units crossed into Bahri and fought block-by-block through that city through January 2025. Meanwhile, south and southeast of Khartoum, another army offensive was threatening to choke off Khartoum proper entirely.
The army steamrolled through the rest of Bahri (Khartoum North) in mid-February, bringing relief to army units in the Kober enclave that have been under siege since the beginning of the war. East Nile, a northeastern suburb of Khartoum, was overrun by the army throughout March. The below map provides a rough visualization of the army invasion the past several weeks, followed by some photos that have circulated on Sudanese social media.
The RSF maintains a foothold in southwestern Omdurman for now; but, besides that, the paramilitary force has now been driven out of the capital region entirely. This marks the latest defeat in central Sudan for the paramilitaries, who have lost the cities of Wad Madani, Sinja, El-Obied, and other large towns over the past few months. The RSF is now trying to frame the fall of Khartoum as their merely “repositioning” forces in a strategic manner.
In reality, the paramilitaries were outmanned and outgunned in Khartoum, hence the hasty flight of RSF fighters.
What does all this mean for Sudan’s besieged citizenry?
While the millions of Sudanese who called Khartoum home before the war hope to return, it is likely most will hold off for now. There is still a lack of public services in the Greater Khartoum area, and pockets of extreme hunger exist among the countless destroyed homes and wrecked markets. Khartoum is unable to sustain a large amount of human life at this time and likely won’t be able to for months. Early reports suggest at least a few thousand people have returned over the past few days though.
Just how damaged is the capital area? The Sudanese Journalists Syndicate provides a small window into the scale of the destruction. After nearly two years of war, journalists say that at least 90% of television, newspaper, and radio facilities have been completely destroyed. The war has led to the complete cessation of print newspapers in Khartoum for the first time in over 120 years.
The frontlines recently shifting in favor of the army likely won’t see much improvement in living conditions, although not being under the terror of RSF rule is being welcomed in Khartoum. Humanitarian aid is still being blocked in large parts of the country by both the army and RSF. And the Trump Administration’s attempted illegal closure of USAID —one of the largest providers of lifesaving food relief in Sudan— has resulted in the reported closure of over 60% of 1,400+ Sudanese-run emergency food kitchens, threatening to push more areas of the country into full-blown famine, including more pockets of Khartoum.
The bottom line is that the Sudanese people continue to bear the brunt of this war and the resulting famine. And they need your help.
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as war and hunger spread. By joining Miles For Sudan or giving below, you will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
Can’t participate? Make a donation or set up a small monthly gift instead:
$1,000 - Fully funds one classroom at Endure Primary School in Yida Refugee Camp for half a semester.
$500 - Delivers food to Darfuri genocide survivors who have fled to South Sudan.
$250 - Provides a daily breakfast to 10 children for an entire month in Adré refugee camp, where many Darfuri genocide survivors now live.
$100 - Supports the monthly work of a sexual assault counselor in Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, Sudan.
$50 - Helps bring school supplies to students in Yida Refugee Camp.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900. You can also donate stock or crypto.
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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After months of block-by-block fighting in neighboring cities and outlying neighborhoods, the army has wrested Khartoum away from the Rapid Support Forces. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/army-captures-khartoum-ending-months-long-siege
In the end, the army invasion of Khartoum proved to be far more anticlimactic than expected. Rapid Support Forces fighters disobeyed orders and fled west across the Jebel Awlia Dam Bridge, the last Nile crossing still in their hands. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/army-captures-khartoum-ending-months-long-siege
Khartoum is now eerily quiet after months of explosions and gunfire inching closer and closer to the battered and hungry capital, a welcome relief to those Sudanese who never had the resources to escape in the early days of the war. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/army-captures-khartoum-ending-months-long-siege
The RSF maintains a foothold in southwestern Omdurman for now; but, besides that, the paramilitary force has now been driven out of the capital region entirely. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/army-captures-khartoum-ending-months-long-siege
Operation Broken Silence is dedicated to Sudanese communities, cultivating resilience and driving meaningful change through crowdfunded programs. Will you join us? https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/army-captures-khartoum-ending-months-long-siege
Meeting with Congressman Steve Cohen concerning the future of USAID
Expressing our strong opposition to the Trump Administration’s cuts to foreign assistance.
We joined fellow nonprofit and faith leaders in Memphis, TN on March 17 for an in-person meeting with Congressman Steve Cohen. The purpose was to express our opposition to the Trump Administration’s illegal closure of USAID and cuts to foreign assistance.
•••••
For our part, we shared with the Congressman the devastating fallout of USAID cuts in Sudan, where the world’s largest humanitarian crisis has given way to famine. Our fellow meeting attendees shared how USAID cuts are negatively impacting the countries they do important work in and care about. Following a robust discussion, we requested that Congressman Cohen:
Support effective diplomacy and international assistance, which are critical to protecting America’s national security and economic interests.
Ensure Congress has a meaningful role and voice in any review of America’s foreign assistance programs to ensure they continue to deliver for the American people.
Urge the Trump Administration to lift the current stop-work order and resume the disbursement of Congressionally appropriated foreign assistance funds – allowing active and ongoing programs to operate while the Administration’s review proceeds.
We appreciate the Congressman for taking an hour out of his busy schedule to hear our concerns and share his views on this important issue. This meeting was organized by our friends at the United States Global Leadership Coalition, a nonpartisan organization uniting business, military, faith, and political leaders to strengthen U.S. investments in global development and diplomacy. Our Executive Director Mark Hackett serves on one of USGLC’s Advisory Committees.
Sudan Crisis Guide
Trying to make sense of the war in Sudan? We’ll get you up to speed in just a few minutes.
Why does this matter?
Chaos from the Trump Administration’s attempted illegal closure of USAID —one of the largest providers of lifesaving food relief in Sudan— continues to plague international efforts to combat famine and preventable disease outbreaks in the country. Last year, Americans provided nearly 50% of all humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people, much of it delivered in sacks and boxes stamped with the USAID logo and the warm words: From the American People.
A portion of this aid was being delivered through 1,400+ Sudanese-run emergency food kitchens, over 60% of which are now closed after losing support.
In recent weeks, some organizations receiving USAID support were granted waivers by the U.S. government to continue providing life-saving services—only to later discover that the Trump Administration had reversed course and terminated their programs. Some of these terminations were then overturned yet again. This erratic and completely inefficient decision-making in Washington has left humanitarians around the world uncertain about when, if, or how they will receive USAID support.
Operation Broken Silence does not receive USAID funding; we rely entirely on individuals, families, and private institutions. Like many small nonprofits operating in countries where USAID has a presence, we do benefit indirectly from the broader humanitarian and economic stability the agency can help create. Humanitarian work is incredibly complex and requires a network of organizations working alongside local heroes to tackle difficult challenges. No single group can do it all; but, when a powerhouse like USAID is suddenly removed from an already difficult situation, everyone feels the pain.
It is estimated that if USAID funding does not fully resume in the next few months, at least 1.8 million more Sudanese will be at high risk of descending into famine. Over 600,000 Sudanese are already in famine conditions.
Sudan’s situation has been dire for months, but it can still get much, much worse. We are already seeing a surge in deaths from starvation, preventable diseases, and the further collapse of healthcare services. The suffering of the Sudanese people is already unbearable. Abandoning them now would be unconscionable. We urge you to stand with them in this dark hour.
Get Involved
Operation Broken Silence is a nonprofit organization with over a decade of experience working alongside Sudanese heroes. Together we are making the story of Sudan known and supporting survivors as they build a renewed Sudan from the ground up.
Our Sudanese partners are overwhelmed with needs as the war spreads and hunger deepens. Your generosity will help them serve the most vulnerable in this time of tremendous need.
Checks can be made payable to Operation Broken Silence and mailed to PO Box 770900 Memphis, TN 38177-0900.
Join Miles For Sudan | Donate Stock or Crypto
Operation Broken Silence a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. Our EIN is 80-0671198.
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Operation Broken Silence recently joined fellow nonprofit and faith leaders in Memphis, TN to meet with Congressman Steve Cohen and express our strong opposition to the Trump Administration’s cuts to foreign assistance. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/meeting-with-congressman-steve-cohen-concerning-the-future-of-usaid
Last year, Americans provided nearly 50% of all humanitarian aid to the Sudanese people, much of it delivered in sacks and boxes stamped with the USAID logo and the warm words: From the American People. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/meeting-with-congressman-steve-cohen-concerning-the-future-of-usaid
It is estimated that if USAID funding does not resume in the next few months, at least 1.8 million more Sudanese will be at high risk of descending into famine. https://operationbrokensilence.org/blog/meeting-with-congressman-steve-cohen-concerning-the-future-of-usaid
Miles For Sudan - FAQ
Learn about the global event that is helping to save and change lives in Sudan.
Our brave Sudanese partners are overwhelmed and in desperate need of more support as war and famine spread. Miles For Sudan is our invitation to you to get off the sidelines and start helping them. This virtual event helps runners, walkers, and cyclists attach their favorite workout to a fundraising goal. You can participate from almost anywhere in the world.
How does Miles For Sudan work?
This event is very simple:
Pick a month to participate.
Select your workout type and fundraising goal.
Get moving and fundraising!
You will get a personal fundraising page that includes a video and information about this crisis. All you have to do is share it online every time you run, walk, or bike with a brief message about how many miles you put in and asking people to donate!
You’ll also unlock perks as you move toward your goal:
All participants who raise $250+ unlock a suite of virtual cooking and cocktail demos.
If you live in the United States and raise at least $500, we will mail you a t-shirt roughly 4 weeks after your fundraiser ends.
Where does the money I raise go?
It’s a three-step process from your fundraising page to lifesaving programs in Sudan:
Donations are made to your fundraising page.
The funds you raise in a given week arrive in our bank account the following Monday.
We gather up donations for an entire month. We send funds raised in bulk to our partners on the first business day of each month.
The total amount we send to our Sudanese partners is reported in our free newsletter each month. If you have a question about the emergency in Sudan or our Sudanese partners, we encourage you to check out these more detailed resources on our website.
I want to do more! What are my options?
Become a team captain! You can select the Create A Team option when registering to get started. Your people will be able to register through your team page, and every time they receive a donation to their own fundraiser, it rolls up into your team’s goal. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Do a livestream fundraiser during your spin class that participants can share online and ask others to pitch in! This is also a great option for running, yoga, HIT classes, and more.
Work with your school, running or biking club, or house of worship to get a team started.
Host an in-person event such as a 5K run and walk.
Simply start a team and ask friends and family to register.
Please contact us if you hope to do an in-person event or have already registered and need a team page started for you.
Additional Questions
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Absolutely! This is a global event and you can run, cycle, or walk from wherever you call home. There are a few exceptions as outlined by U.S law.
Your fundraising page automatically accepts 150+ currencies from around the world, which means most people can give in their local currency.
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That’s entirely up to you, but we recommend aiming for at least $250. You’ll set your fundraising goal when you register.
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You can use your Apple Watch, Fitbit, or favorite exercise app to track your miles! We also have a printable tracker we’ll email you when you sign up if you prefer that.
Your fundraising page tracks your progress for you by updating in real-time every time a donation is made.
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Absolutely! If you prefer giving your full goal amount instead of fundraising that is okay. Just go through the registration process and then donate to your own page.
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Check out our Fundraising Assets if you haven't yet! If you are still struggling after using these tools, please reach out to us at info@operationbrokensilence.org. Our team is here to help!
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You have no obligation to reach your goal. Every mile you knock out and dollar you raise will still help Sudanese teachers, healthcare professionals, and aid workers.
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Our years of experience have taught us this is the best way to do things, for three reasons:
It helps our Sudanese partners plan and spend the funds you raise more wisely, since they know how much money they have to work with for a month. They prefer we send funds this way.
It reduces banking fees by 75%, which means our partners get even more of the money we send them. Every penny counts when you're saving and changing lives.
It streamlines our accounting, gifting our staff extra time to focus more on fundraising, educating, and planning.
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Participants who raise $500+ and live in the United States get a free shirt! Please allow at least 4-6 weeks after your fundraiser ends for delivery. If your shirt hasn’t arived by then, shoot us a quick messge at info@operationbrokensilence.org
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Unfortunately we are unable to ship outside of the United States at this time.
Still need help? Drop us a quick message here and we’ll get back to you ASAP.