Millions of people forced from their homes by Sudan's war risk being left without a roof over their heads, after the United Nations warned that emergency shelter supplies are running out and funding covers only a fraction of the need.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said in a joint statement on 6 November that an estimated 15.4 million people across Sudan urgently need emergency shelter and essential household items. Funding constraints mean humanitarian agencies can prioritise assistance for just 10 per cent of those in need, and so far only 936,000 people have received help.

Speaking from Khartoum at a UN briefing in Geneva, IOM's chief of mission in Sudan, Mohamed Refaat, said his agency's warehouses were now empty. "This year, I was able to distribute more than 40,000 tonnes [of relief assistance]. But our warehouses are completely empty now," he said. He added that 16 trucks had arrived in Darfur the previous day carrying the last of IOM's available stock.

UNHCR's deputy representative in Sudan, Abubakarr Jalloh, said a tent was far more than shelter for a woman who had lost everything. "It means dignity. It is privacy. And it is safety for that woman and family," he said. He added that three in four internally displaced people in Sudan are women and children, and that below-average rainfall linked to El Nino conditions had hit harvests in Darfur, Kordofan and other areas already devastated by fighting, keeping food prices painfully high.

The warning covers both families still fleeing the conflict and people returning to areas of origin only to find their homes destroyed. More than 5.2 million people have returned to their areas of origin, but many cannot go back to their homes because countless houses have been destroyed or looted, and healthcare, electricity and water services are largely unavailable in many places.

More than three and a half years into the conflict, Sudan remains the world's largest displacement crisis. Around 8.6 million people remain displaced inside the country, while more than 4.6 million have fled across its borders. The war began in April 2023 after a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Sudan's 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires $2.9 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 20.4 million people out of the 33.7 million in need across the country. Only around 47 per cent of the required resources have been received so far. The shelter response alone needs $179 million and is only about 35 per cent funded, according to the agencies.

The two agencies warned that without an urgent injection of flexible funding, more families will face the coming months without adequate protection from harsh weather, insecurity and the risks of violence and exploitation. "We cannot undo what they have endured, but we can make sure that they have a safe place to sleep tonight," Mr Refaat said.