New York: The conflict in Sudan has escalated into the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with millions trapped by violence and aid access severely restricted, top humanitarian officials told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.
The war, which began in April 2023 due to a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has left nearly two-thirds of Sudan’s population—over 30 million people—in urgent need of humanitarian assistance this year, according to the United Nations.
Christopher Lockyear, head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), accused both warring factions of worsening the crisis rather than protecting civilians. "The Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and other parties to the conflict are not only failing to protect civilians – they are actively compounding their suffering," he said.
Both the SAF and RSF have denied allegations of blocking aid or targeting civilians. Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed insisted the government has a plan in place to protect civilians and dismissed concerns raised by humanitarian groups.
Meanwhile, famine has been confirmed in at least five areas, with 1.3 million children under the age of five at risk, according to Catherine Russell, head of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF. She warned that more than 3 million young children are also at risk of fatal diseases, such as cholera, malaria, and dengue fever, due to the collapse of the healthcare system.
Additionally, sexual violence has been widespread throughout the conflict. Russell reported that hundreds of children had been raped in 2024, including 16 cases involving children under five, with four of the victims being infants under the age of one.
Lockyear added that MSF had provided care to 385 survivors of sexual violence this year, most of whom were assaulted by armed men. Many victims were attacked while working in fields. "Women and girls are not merely unprotected; they are being brutally targeted," he said.
A U.N. fact-finding mission in October reported “staggering” levels of sexual violence committed by RSF and its allied forces. The RSF has stated it will investigate such allegations and take action against perpetrators.
In January, the U.S. government officially declared that members of the RSF and associated militias had committed genocide in Sudan, further highlighting the severity of the crisis.
