Amid Sudan’s devastating conflict, doctors and grassroots emergency response networks have become lifelines for millions. Dr. Jamal Eltaeb keeps Al Nao Hospital operating under threat, saving hundreds with scarce resources. Women-led community "emergency response rooms" reach roughly three million people and reportedly deliver aid with high efficiency, but they face imminent collapse as funding declines. Targeted support to these local efforts can directly save lives.
Finding Light in Sudan’s Dark Night: Doctors and Grassroots Networks Keep Communities Alive
As Sudan’s catastrophic conflict continues, stories of destruction dominate headlines. Yet amid this devastation, a resilient and humane response has emerged: doctors, volunteers and community networks risking everything to save their neighbors.
One Doctor, Two Children, A Lifeline
Dr. Jamal Eltaeb, head of traumatology at Al Nao Hospital in Omdurman, is one of those who has remained at his post despite constant danger. At the height of the fighting, two children—Tagwa and Faris—were critically wounded when a missile struck while they were at a market. Neighbors rushed them to Eltaeb’s hospital, where, working with limited anesthesia and supplies, he performed amputations that saved their lives.
"Their mother arrived three hours later expecting to find them dead," Eltaeb recalled. "When she saw them alive, her relief and gratitude were overwhelming."
Eltaeb’s steadfast service earned him the Aurora Prize For Awakening Humanity. Despite widespread collapse of medical infrastructure across greater Khartoum, Al Nao remains one of the few functioning referral hospitals, operating without reliable electricity, facing supply shortages and a constant risk of attack.
Women-Led Community Networks Filling a Lifesaving Gap
Across Sudan, local communities have organized voluntary emergency response rooms: grassroots networks that coordinate food distribution, basic medical care and evacuations for the most vulnerable. These community groups were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and, with limited international aid, reach an estimated three million people. Analysts report these networks deliver aid with exceptional efficiency—about 95% of donations reportedly reach beneficiaries—and many are led by women who have become primary providers where traditional institutions have failed.
The International Rescue Committee has described Sudan as the largest and fastest displacement crisis on record. Roughly 30 million people need humanitarian assistance to survive, and about 12 million have been displaced from their homes, often after arson, bombardment or targeted attacks.
Fragile Lifelines Threatened
These community lifelines are under severe strain. Islamic Relief and other organizations warn that community food kitchens and emergency response rooms are on the brink of collapse because of sustained conflict and dwindling funds. When major international donors reduce support, volunteers say it feels like “someone cut the rope we were holding on to.”
Volunteers describe painful choices: turning people away when food runs out, and the moral burden of going home with food while children in the line did not. Meanwhile, observers and lawmakers have urged outside actors not to fuel the fighting; at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Representative Chris Smith highlighted concerns about arms flows and civilian harm.
How Readers Can Help
The courage of people like Dr. Eltaeb and the thousands of volunteers staffing emergency response rooms offers a rare source of hope. Targeted international support for these local efforts—donations to emergency response rooms and to hospitals such as Al Nao—can translate directly into saved lives. Sharing verified fundraising channels and elevating the voices of Sudanese responders will help keep those lifelines open.
Authors: Don Cheadle is an actor and activist. John Prendergast is co-founder of The Sentry and a member of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative’s Selection Committee.
