Western Sudan: A humanitarian emergency

In Western Sudan, the population’s vulnerability has been pushed to the extreme through over three years of war. Humanitarian work continues relentlessly to meet critical needs and to deter further violence.

“Shelling is constant, unrelenting—civilians are not safe anywhere,” warns Justine Muzik Piquemal, Regional Director for SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL. The clash between the regular army and the rebel Rapid Support Forces has plunged Sudan into chaos since April 2023. Civilians who have been subjected to brutality and stripped of their belongings are living through a nightmare: women face rape and sexual violence, children are recruited into armed groups, and civilian infrastructures are systematically destroyed and looted. A large-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding under the radar. More than 9.1 million people are internally displaced, while another 4.5 million have fled to neighboring countries¹.

“Women facing hunger struggle to breastfeed, and children are dying of hunger,” warns Justine Muzik Piquemal. “On the ground, it’s something we see every day: children who will never reach adulthood. We are in the process of losing two generations.” Already, 375,000 people are affected by famine, and 6.3 million are facing emergency levels of food insecurity². In some areas, adults eat only once every three or four days in an attempt to spare food for their children.

More than 715,000 people have taken refuge in the small town of Tawila, fleeing there as militias advanced across Darfur—first seizing the Zamzam camp in April 2025, then the city of El Fasher in October. “We took a few clothes, two bowls, and two pots. We left everything else behind,” says Taqwa Ahmed Ishag Mohamad, now sheltered in what has become the largest displacement camp in the world—a crisis within a crisis.

To respond to the urgent needs in the Darfur states, humanitarian organizations are scaling up their efforts. Despite constant risks, they provide water, healthcare, food, and shelter. SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL is drilling boreholes, building water networks and latrines, and distributing essential supplies; Première Urgence Internationale is deploying mobile health teams and operating health and nutrition centers to combat malnutrition and address primary healthcare needs; Triangle Génération Humanitaire is caring for traumatized people, especially children, while also meeting water supply and hygiene needs. Together, the organizations are supported by the European Union.

The presence of humanitarian workers is all the more critical given that, due to the lack of media coverage of the conflict and the absence of international intervention to protect civilians, who otherwise find themselves alone in facing violence and a lack of basic essentials. However, delivering aid is extremely costly, and access to the most vulnerable—trapped in isolated areas or near active conflict—is restricted due to administrative obstacles. It is urgent that the international community lift these barriers and fund a humanitarian response that matches the scale of the needs, so that the protection of civilians across Sudan can finally become a reality.

Header photo : © Peter BIRO / European Union

Sources :
¹ DTM, janvier 2026
² IPC, novembre 2025