Sudan: After a thousand days of war, millions of civilians are still suffering the consequences

The latest UN data shows that 9.3 million people have been uprooted by conflict across the country and more than 4.3 million have fled across the border, putting enormous pressure on neighboring countries. More than 21 million people across the country are believed to be in acute food insecurity.

Although many of the displaced have returned to the capital Khartoum, enormous challenges and dangers to civilians remain there, including from unexploded weapons. Elsewhere, fighting continues “on multiple fronts in Kordofan” further west. OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, he noted that sieges have cut off the towns of Kadugli – the capital of South Kordofan state – and Dilling – a town north of Kadugli – limiting food, healthcare and access to farms and markets.

Daily drone and missile attacks

In Darfur, meanwhile, “fighting on the ground and drone attacks from the air continue,” while long-range attacks on civilian infrastructure have also been recorded far beyond the front lines, Mr. Laerke added.

Children continue to be killed and injured in ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which reportedly left eight children dead in an attack in Al Obeid, North Kordofan, earlier this week.

According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEFAs many as 5,000 youth have been displaced every day since the conflict began in April 2023. “Many have been displaced not once, but repeatedly, with violence following them wherever they flee,” said UNICEF spokesman Ricardo Pires.

He warned that millions of children are also at risk of rape and that there are survivors, including babies. “Behind each of these numbers is a child, scared, hungry, sick and wondering why the world hasn’t come to help,” Mr Pires added.

Sexual assaults are a plague

Women are also victims of “rampant” sexual violence and abuse, with around 12 million people – mainly women and girls – at risk of gender-based violence, according to OCHA. “Female-headed households are now three times more likely to be food insecure and three-quarters of these households report not having enough to eat,” Mr Laerke said.

The global humanitarian financing crisis has impacted the work of the UN and its partners in Sudan, with only 36 percent of the $4.2 billion requested last year ultimately funded by donors.

In light of this reduced financial support, OCHA aims to help 20 million people by 2026 of the nearly 34 million people likely to need humanitarian assistance in Sudan. The plan costs $2.9 billion.

“Today our call is urgent: first, an immediate cessation of hostilities and real steps towards lasting peace,” Mr Laerke said. “Second, compliance with international humanitarian law, facilitating access across conflict lines and protecting civilians, including aid workers and civilian infrastructure.”