Health1 min read

Port Sudan families can barely afford water as shortages persist

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Conflict and mass migration have pushed Port Sudan's population to one million while municipal infrastructure fulfills under 40 percent of overall water needs. The destruction of the Arbaat Dam during August 2024 floods wiped out half of the city's daily supply alongside downstream wells and delivery networks. Consequently, residents must divert scarce earnings to buy trucked water, even as average Sudanese wages have dropped to levels not recorded since the early 1990s. International aid groups are deploying solar pumps and new boreholes, yet critical deficits continue to endanger vulnerable families.

Key points

  • Private vendor prices and plummeting earnings have made basic daily water unaffordable fo…: Private vendor prices and plummeting earnings have made basic daily water unaffordable for displaced and resident households.
  • Current humanitarian and infrastructure repair efforts remain far too small to cover the…: Current humanitarian and infrastructure repair efforts remain far too small to cover the needs of Port Sudan's one million people.
  • Prolonged reliance on expensive, unregulated water deliveries leaves millions of vulnerab…: Prolonged reliance on expensive, unregulated water deliveries leaves millions of vulnerable children at high risk of waterborne illnesses.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Despite efforts to restore damaged infrastructure, residents face soaring water costs as war, displacement strain supplies.

Port Sudan, Sudan – Every day, Amina Khalafallah spends 10,000 Sudanese pounds ($1 at the parallel market rate) on water for herself and her four children. Over a 30-day month, that amounts to 300,000 pounds ($30) – the equivalent of her entire monthly salary.

Khalafallah lives in the Deim Mayo neighbourhood of Port Sudan, in eastern Sudan, where her home is not connected to a piped water network. Instead, she depends on street vendors, who charge 1,000 pounds ($0.10) for 18 litres.

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Khalafallah works in a cafeteria at a private institution, while her husband works in another state and sends money to help her out when he can.

Between them, the family barely scrambles enough money to get by, but Khalafallah says…

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