The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the ongoing conflict and spreading disease outbreaks are having a devastating impact on children in Sudan. Separately, independent human rights investigators report that the civil war in Sudan is intensifying, marked by an increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence. Countless civilians caught in the conflict face devastating consequences.
Children account for at least half of the 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan, as well as half of the more than 12 million people displaced since April 2023. Approximately 24 million children in Sudan are at risk of violence, abuse, exploitation, and trauma, with those separated from their families — or unaccompanied — facing heightened risks.
On Wednesday, OCHA once again called for unhindered humanitarian access so the UN and its partners can ramp up support for children and other civilians in desperate need. OCHA also reiterated its call for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
As the conflict rages on, the country’s children urgently need protection. However, due to severe funding shortages, less than 18 percent have received critical support so far this year. Aid agencies working on child protection warn that they are only 3 percent funded, leaving US$88 million unfunded.
Meanwhile, preventable diseases are also taking a heavy toll on children in Sudan. Since cholera broke out last July, the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Health has reported over 80,000 suspected cases and more than 2,000 deaths.
This includes nearly 7,300 cases and over 230 deaths affecting children under five alone. Just last month, approximately 15,000 suspected cases were recorded in Khartoum State, though new reports have declined.
However, aid agencies warn that underreporting may be obscuring the true extent of the outbreak. The most acutely affected locations currently include Khartoum State, the Darfur region, the Kordofan region, River Nile State, and Northern State. Organizations working in the areas of health, water, sanitation, and hygiene continue to support the response led by Sudanese health authorities.
On June 10, a ten-day oral cholera vaccination campaign supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was launched in Khartoum State. The campaign aims to reach 2.6 million people aged one year and older.
Sudan is also coping with a measles outbreak. Since the beginning of this year, there have been more than 2,200 reported cases, including five deaths, with over 60 percent affecting children under five.
According to OCHA, although aid organizations focusing on health are responding to disease outbreaks, their efforts are hindered by gaps in disease case data and severe shortages of vaccines, supplies, and trained personnel.
Sudan’s war is intensifying while people are still starving
On Tuesday, independent human rights investigators said that the heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a "direct result" of the ongoing influx of arms into the country, indicating that the war is far from over. In an update on the emergency in the Northeast African nation, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan emphasized the increased use of heavy weaponry in populated areas and the sharp rise in sexual violence.
“Let us be clear: the conflict in Sudan is far from over,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the Fact-Finding Mission.
“The scale of human suffering continues to deepen. The fragmentation of governance, the militarization of society, and the involvement of foreign actors are fueling an ever-deadlier crisis.”
“Many Sudanese are dying from hunger and especially those who have been detained and in detention - they are dying and millions affected,” said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, a member of the Fact-Finding Mission.
Othman called on all States to uphold and enforce their legal obligations, particularly the arms embargo mandated by Security Council Resolution 1556 and subsequent resolutions.
“Those with influence must act now to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, and to avoid risking complicity in grave violations,” he said.
The investigators, whose mandate was established by the UN Human Rights Council in October 2023, warned that humanitarian relief continues to be weaponized and that hospitals and medical facilities remain under siege.
“There is a direct link between the flow of arms in Sudan, armed hostilities and the resulting violence amounting to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations,” said Othman.
“We know the kind of arms that are being used: heavy artillery, modern warfare, drones and in fact, they have escalated.”
Fellow investigator Mona Rishmawi asserted that the testimonies gathered indicated that both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were continuing to commit war crimes. The SAF and the RSF have been fighting each other since April 2023, when the transition to civilian rule broke down.
The Mission found that both sides have escalated their use of heavy weaponry in residential areas. Around the town of El Fasher, for example, the RSF has assaulted, detained, and killed civilians and attacked, burned, and looted villages. During an RSF attack from April 10 to 13, more than 100 civilians were reportedly killed, and a SAF bombing in Al Koma killed at least 15 civilians.
In areas recaptured by the SAF, such as Khartoum, Al Gezira, and Sennar states, the Fact-Finding Mission documented widespread retaliation between late 2024 and mid-2025.
“Individuals perceived to have supported the RSF — including human rights defenders, medical workers, and aid personnel — have faced arbitrary arrest, torture, and in some cases, execution,” the investigators said.
“The RSF, too, has carried out reprisals, killing 30 civilians in Omdurman’s Al-Salha neighborhood on April 27.”
Now in its third year, the war has killed tens of thousands of civilians, displaced more than 13 million people when displacement was at its height, and subjected many more to sexual violence, looting, and the destruction of homes, health facilities, markets, and other infrastructure.
Rishmawi stressed that crimes against humanity continue, "particularly in the context of persecution of certain ethnic groups."
To illustrate how humanitarian relief has been weaponized, the mission noted that the SAF imposed bureaucratic restrictions while the RSF looted convoys and blocked aid entirely. These actions have driven famine, especially in the Darfur region, according to the investigators, who are independent human rights experts and not UN staff.
Condemning the bombing of a UN aid convoy in Al Koma en route to El Fasher on June 2, which killed five staff members and injured several others, the Fact-Finding Mission added that the RSF had shelled the Saudi Hospital in El Fasher a dozen times.
In May, an RSF drone strike on Obeid International Hospital in North Kordofan killed six civilians and shut down one of the region's last functioning clinics.
Rishmawi said such attacks are "crippling" the delivery of aid to many of these communities.
“It has [an] impact on starvation, it has an impact on famine, it has an impact on access to basic things like food, like the kitchens that they actually organize.”
In their latest update to the Human Rights Council, the investigators documented a sharp rise in sexual and gender-based violence, with women and girls being subjected to rape, gang rape, abduction, sexual slavery, and forced marriage, primarily in RSF-controlled displacement camps.
“What began as a political and security crisis has become a grave human rights and protection emergency, marked by international crimes that stain all involved,” Rishmawi said.
“It is unconscionable that this devastating war is entering its third year with no sign of resolution. We all know, but it is worth repeating, civilians continue to bear the brunt of escalating violence and hostilities.”
"Accountability is not a luxury; it is the cornerstone of sustainable peace; its absence fuels the flames of conflict," Ezeilo added.
“Justice must be demanded and actively integrated into peace agreements to address the lack of accountability, which has been identified as a root cause of conflicts in Sudan.”
In October 2023, the UN Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan and later extended its mandate until October 2025.
Since its last report to the HRC, the Fact-Finding Mission has conducted 240 interviews, received 110 submissions, verified 30 videos, geolocated eight attacks, and compiled dossiers identifying possible perpetrators.
Despite Sudan’s refusal to allow access inside the country, the Mission carried out investigative missions to Uganda and Chad and engaged in high-level consultations with African Union officials in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.