On South Sudan visit, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kristin Davis calls for urgent support for families fleeing Sudan

RENK, SOUTH SUDAN – Kristin Davis, actor and Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, visited South Sudan last week to see the organization’s response to the deepening emergency caused by the war in Sudan – the world’s largest and most devastating displacement crisis, yet among the least funded.

During her visit, Davis travelled to Renk Transit Centre and the Joda border crossing, where she met Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese refugee returnees who had fled escalating violence, insecurity and human rights violations inside Sudan. Ongoing fighting in Sudan continues to drive thousands from their homes every day, many for the second or third time.

“The level of need here is huge – people have been through unimaginable violence and trauma. Urgent humanitarian assistance is desperately needed for families who are fleeing the brutal war in Sudan.” Davis said, concluding her visit to South Sudan.

At Joda Reception Centre – through which roughly 70 per cent of arrivals pass – Davis witnessed UNHCR and its partners delivering immediate, life-saving assistance, including shelter, health care, clean water and sanitation, as well as protection services.

She also saw how needs continue to far outpace available resources. Overstretched facilities and severe funding shortfalls are constraining the response. In 2025, only 25 per cent of the funding required for the Sudan response was received.

Since the conflict in Sudan began in 2023, nearly 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes within Sudan or across borders. Today, one in three people in Sudan is forcibly displaced, and South Sudan has received more than 1.3 million people since the crisis began.

At the Joda crossing, Davis met families arriving from Sudan’s White and Blue Nile states following escalating violence. New arrivals described attacks on civilians, destruction of homes and basic infrastructure, and overwhelming fear that continues to uproot people from their communities.

Women and children account for some 80 per cent of those fleeing Sudan, bearing the heaviest toll of this brutal conflict. Many have been displaced multiple times and arrive with acute health and psychosocial needs. Reports of sexual violence, abuse and exploitation remain widespread.

Funding shortages have also forced the closure of three-quarters of all safe spaces for women and girls in South Sudan, cutting off tens of thousands of survivors and those at risk from life-saving assistance and protection. “The women told me of the violence they experienced – they need safety and support immediately,” Davis said.

Working with the Government of South Sudan and partners, UNHCR continues to support refugees, returnees and host communities. Recently, UNHCR and partners relocated South Sudanese refugee returnees from the Renk Transit Centre to the Abukadra integration site, where families can begin rebuilding in safety and dignity. However, in an increasingly fragile operating environment, the response is being stretched to breaking point.

Matthew Brook, UNHCR Representative in South Sudan, said: “As more people continue to arrive every day, life-saving humanitarian assistance remains essential. With the authorities, we are responding to urgent, critical humanitarian needs at the border while working toward longer-term solutions for those forced to flee and the communities welcoming them. But without adequate funding, both the emergency response and longer-term solutions are at grave risk.”

Davis added: “The people we met are not asking for sympathy. They are trying to survive this emergency and hoping to be able to rebuild in the future. This crisis demands more attention, more resources and more action – now.”

Kristin Davis has been supporting UNHCR since 2014 and was announced as a Goodwill Ambassador in April 2017.

For more information, please contact:

• In Juba: Carla Calvo, [email protected], +211 927 141 812
• In Geneva: Biel Calderon, [email protected], +41 766 254 616