UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (IPS) – As Sudan approaches 1,000 days of civil war, there was a brutal escalation of violence in late December and early January, with drone strikes hitting areas at the center of the country’s deepening hunger crisis.
As the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) advance through western and southern Sudan and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) tighten control over the east and the capital, civilians are at high risk of being caught in the crossfire. Thousands have been displaced as a direct result of the violence, humanitarian access remains severely strained and most civilians lack access to basic, essential services.
At the end of December, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) released its annual report Emergency Watchlist report, which outlines the humanitarian crises in twenty countries and identifies those most at risk of worsening conditions by 2026. For the third year in a row, Sudan tops the list, with the IRC describing the country’s crisis as the “largest humanitarian crisis on record,” as well as the largest and fastest growing displacement crisis in the world.
“This crisis is completely man-made,” said Eatizaz Yousif, IRC country director for Sudan. “The ongoing conflict has decimated livelihoods, displaced millions and made life-saving assistance impossible for those in desperate need.” According to IRC estimatesAbout 150,000 Sudanese civilians were killed in 2025 – a number expected to rise in the new year as the conflict intensifies and collapsing emergency services struggle to meet rapidly growing needs.
The first week of 2026 has been particularly turbulent for Sudan’s besieged civilians. Between January 1 and 3, several drone attacks took place in Dilling, South Kordofan, causing numerous civilian deaths and injuries and causing significant panic among residents.
On January 3, drone strikes targeted a market and a medical clinic in the villages of Al Zurg and Ghurair in North Darfur, described by the United Nations (UN) as the “epicenter of Sudan’s hunger crisis,” causing widespread damage. That same day, two drone strikes took place in the Kulbus town of West Darfur, leading to the displacement of more than 600 civilians.
According to figures of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 1,000 civilians were driven from their homes due to violence between December 31 and January 4 and fled to South Kordofan. On January 6, brutal clashes between warring factions caused more than 2,000 civilians to flee North Kordofan in a single day.
Conditions for displaced civilians in North Darfur are extremely dire, with the IRC highlighting a widespread lack of access to basic services. About 400,000 families fleeing violence in neighboring El Fasher have arrived in Tawila, overwhelming the region’s already strained humanitarian capacity. Many live in makeshift shelters without adequate food, clean water or health care. IRC teams have also reported that more than 170 young children in Tawila have been separated from their families, highlighting the serious protection risks faced by displaced communities.
“The sight of these small children arriving alone, without the whereabouts or fate of the rest of their family, is harrowing,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, head of the IRC crisis in Darfur. “Extremely disturbing reports and satellite images confirm that people cannot escape El Fasher to safe places like Tawila, meaning they are trapped, detained or worse.”
On December 29, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) conducted a nutrition assessment in North Darfur’s Um Baru region – one of the regions most affected by conflict and food insecurity – and found that 53 percent of nearly 500 children screened showed signs of acute malnutrition, many of whom were under five years old. Eighteen percent of the children screened were found to be suffering from severe acute malnutrition, which can be fatal within weeks if left untreated.
“When severe acute malnutrition reaches these levels, time becomes the most critical factor,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. “Children in Um Baru are fighting for their lives and need immediate help. Every day without safe and unhindered access increases the risk of children becoming weaker and more likely to die and suffer from entirely preventable causes.”
According to estimates from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPCAbout 21.2 million people in Sudan – almost half of the population – face severe food insecurity. More than 3.7 million children under the age of five, as well as pregnant and lactating women, require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition. Furthermore, in November, famine was officially declared in El Fasher and Kadugli, with humanitarian experts predicting that the famine could spread to twenty additional places in Darfur and Kordofan.
At the end of December, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced a massive seed distribution campaign to aid efforts to get through the winter and combat Sudan’s deepening nutrition and hunger crisis ahead of the new year. The campaign, which was launched in Khartoum in November, aims to strengthen and rehabilitate local food production in Sudan. FAO aims to reach over 134,000 households, or 670,000 people, in ten states, including Al Jazirah, Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala, Khartoum, Northern State, Red Sea, River Nile, Sennar and White Nile states.
Targeted households will receive a variety of vegetable seeds including eggplant, green pepper, jute mallow, okra, onion, pumpkin, arugula, snake cucumber, tomato and zucchini. This campaign aims to restore dietary diversity, improve household nutrition and revive livelihood opportunities. This is crucial for a country like Sudan, where roughly 80 percent of the population depends on agriculture as a lifeline for food and income.
In addition, the UN and its partners are working on the ground in Khartoum to strengthen protection services for vulnerable civilians. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is currently clearing rubble, distributing medicines, creating short-term employment and providing psychosocial support.
In late December, UNDP and the UN Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) launched a campaign entitled Strengthening capacities for peace and social cohesion in Kassala and Red Sea statesin partnership with UNICEF, to promote gender equality, social cohesion, youth engagement, equitable governance and successful livelihoods.
“During the war, many of us felt hopeless, but being part of this group gave me purpose,” said Khawla, a youth ambassador from Kadugli who was trained by the program. “When I see young people listening, asking questions and beginning to believe that peace is possible, I know our work matters. It’s not just about awareness, it’s about rebuilding trust and rebuilding our communities from the ground up.”
IPS UN office report
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