Representing Sudanese-led humanitarian response on the global stage
For more than 20 years, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) has brought together leaders from business, government, and civil society to turn ideas into action on the world’s most pressing challenges. This year, under the theme “How Do We Get It Right?”, the Sudanese American Medical Association (SAMA) joins that stage — representing a Sudanese-led humanitarian response to the world’s largest displacement crisis.
SAMA President Dr. Nahla Gadalla is speaking live on the CGI Leaders Stage, and SAMA has registered SUDARFUR, a new humanitarian relief center for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad, as an official CGI Commitment to Action.
Watch Dr. Nahla’s speech
As traditional funding for humanitarian work is scaled back, aid organizations are being forced to rethink how relief is financed, delivered, and sustained. Dr. Gadalla joins a panel of global humanitarian leaders — including the presidents and CEOs of the International Rescue Committee, UNHCR, Direct Relief, GIZ, and the LEGO Foundation — to discuss what it will take to build a more resilient humanitarian system and what role a new generation of leaders is playing in getting there.
SAMA’s Commitment to Action: SUDARFUR
What SUDARFUR will do:
- Deliver food security support and cross-border food logistics
- Store and distribute medical supplies to local health partners
- Run communicable disease surveillance and outbreak response
- Provide women’s health programming integrated with gender-based violence (GBV) response
- Function as a Project ECHO hub — extending SAMA’s existing telementoring network so frontline health workers in Chad can access specialist training and consultation remotely
Expected impact by December 2027:
directly reached, including refugees and internally displaced people
indirectly reached across surrounding communities
– Delivered in partnership with Tchad Health Foundation.
SUDARFUR builds directly on SAMA’s existing ECHO Superhub, anchored at the Dr. Bushra Ibnauf Centers in Port Sudan and Gedaref — bringing the same model of diaspora-powered, locally implemented care to Sudanese refugees who have crossed into Chad.
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Follow SAMA’s channels for updates from CGI 2026, and use #CGI2026 to join the wider conversation.