The Essential Resilience of Local Civil Society in Sudan
The humanitarian crisis in Sudan has reached a catastrophic level, with at least 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 12 million displaced.
The conflict has resulted in “catastrophic levels of hunger” and a collapsed health care system. These needs are further compounded by systemic abuses, exemplified in the six International Criminal Court (ICC) cases stemming from the Darfur conflict. Furthermore, this crisis is exacerbated by a global decline in foreign assistance funding, including the dismantling of USAID.
As traditional humanitarian structures and aid falter, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) continue to emerge as the vital and rights-based foundation for community support. These local efforts, as exemplified by the Triple C Foundation, are a necessary, resilient, and accountable alternative demonstrating cultural competence in the aftermath of international neglect.
This crisis in Sudan is not abstract for all observers. For Khalid Osman, a native of Sudan, the crisis became a personal call to action. “It felt like an obligation–-not just emotionally, but morally–to help,” he said in a recent interview. This intrinsic motivation underscores the goals of grassroots work, in direct contrast with those of many international organizations.
The vast, widespread deprivation of food and medicine in Sudan constitutes a failure by the state to uphold the right to an adequate standard of living for its citizens guaranteed by Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Despite being at the top of the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Emergency Watchlist, the Triple C team along with other leading sources in the field finds the emergency situation in Sudan to be one of the “world’s most underreported crises.”
The global decline in foreign assistance is increasingly felt, as cuts have forced the termination of critical community services. While the Sudanese state is failing to fulfill its obligations under Article 11, local CSOs are actively upholding that right through access to food, medicine, and other life-sustaining services.
Local agency models often stand in sharp contrast to the slow, bureaucratic organizations often associated with international aid. Triple C’s mission is precise: “to create direct, community-centered humanitarian impact by empowering local people who are already doing the hard work on the ground.” This structure creates fluidity, enabling the operation to pivot quickly and deliver relief that is both culturally appropriate and locally tailored in ways that centralized organizations cannot.
In November 2025, in a partnership with the Fashir University Medical Student Association and the Amnesty Volunteer Organization for Peace and Development, the Triple C Foundation distributed essential relief baskets to 120 families displaced in Sudan. The team finds that one of the biggest difficulties is transferring funds from the U.S. to Sudan due to international banking constraints. Despite these barriers, programs using local models have a far greater impact because their low administrative costs ensure that nearly every dollar goes directly to on-the-ground relief. Because local purchasing power is significantly higher in Sudan, 1 USD converts to approximately 3,500 SDG, showing that “even small donations stretch incredibly far.” This model also emphasizes the importance of transparency in its work.
Accountability is ensured via “photo and videodocumentation of the entire process” which is shared publicly “so donors can see the direct impact.”
“More critically, by relying on the assessment of needs and distribution processes of on-the-ground Sudanese volunteer organizations, CSOs like the Triple C Foundation honor the principle of Self-Determination, as articulated in Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).”
By relying on community led assessments, Triple C embodies the principle of participation central to many modern human rights-based applications. This approach ensures that strategies are relevant, empowering, and aligned with the genuine needs and agency of the affected communities.
Beyond immediate emergency relief, CSOs demonstrate a commitment to long-term community survival and dignity. As traditional aid models often lack this consideration, local CSOs become foundations for support and advocacy. The Foundation’s leadership points out that the greatest hope for recovery in Sudan “lies in its people–especially its youth.” The young Sudanese volunteers are the ones actively organizing distributions, cooking meals, and helping to keep their communities alive during this conflict.
In the long term, the Triple C Foundation’s goal is to shift from emergency needs to rebuilding, which includes supporting the creation of sustainable infrastructure like schools, health care systems, and community-based programming.
To immediately support this vision, the Foundation suggests that the most important political action the global and humanitarian community can take is “establishing protected humanitarian corridors into Darfur.” Taking these steps would allow aid to safely reach civilians who are in urgent need and empower CSOs to continue their work in uplifting local leaders and guaranteeing that communities have the resources they need to rebuild with dignity.
Investing directly into the local infrastructure of human rights defense shows the population in Sudan and the international sphere solidarity in the work that has been done and the pathway forward.
The future of Sudan will not depend on vague promises from the international community, but on the strength and protection of grassroots organizations currently sustaining communities. CSOs like the Triple C Foundation are not just filling in the gaps left by outside institutions, but redefining what legitimate, accountable and rights-based humanitarian action looks like in practice. Their work directly proves that when communities are enabled to be decision-makers in their own survival, aid becomes more effective, dignified, and sustainable.
Yet, local actors cannot bear this responsibility on their own. Local agencies require the political space, secure access routes and consistent material support to meet the needs of populations that grow more urgently each day. As global attention is focused elsewhere, the need and responsibility to uplift Sudanese civil society becomes even more pressing. Supporting these organizations is not an act of charity but rather a commitment to the rights and future of the Sudanese people themselves.
