United Nations officials are warning that extreme insecurity and appalling human rights violations — including mass killings, ethnic violence, and sexual violence — in the Sudanese town of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur State, have triggered a dramatic surge in people forced to flee and further worsened the country's humanitarian crisis. Despite rising needs, humanitarian operations in North Darfur are on the brink of collapse in the face of severe funding shortages for the Sudan emergency.
“The crisis in El Fasher is the direct result of nearly 18 months of siege that has severed families from food, water, and medical care,” said Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), in a statement on Tuesday as she began a five-day visit to the war-torn country.
“Our teams are responding, but insecurity and depleted supplies mean we are only reaching a fraction of those in need.”
Pope added that, without safe access and urgent funding, humanitarian operations risk grinding to a halt "at the very moment communities need support the most."
Catastrophic situation in North Darfur
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El Fasher after a siege of more than 500 days in late October amid reports of widespread atrocities, including summary executions and sexual violence. Following the RSF’s takeover of the city, clashes have continued to be reported along key access routes, trapping civilians and cutting off aid.
In the past two weeks, heavy shelling and ground assaults in and around North Darfur's capital have displaced nearly 90,000 people. Families have been forced to flee through unsafe routes with almost no access to food, water, or medical assistance.
Many have sought refuge in Tawila, Melit, and Saraf Omra, while others have fled to Ad Dabbah in the Northern State. Families from El Fasher have also taken shelter in Tina, a locality near the Sudan-Chad border, where more than 3,000 displaced men, women, and children urgently need food, shelter, and healthcare.
As people continue to flee the atrocities committed by the RSF in El Fasher, tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped within the city, surviving in famine conditions as hospitals, markets, and water systems have collapsed.
On Tuesday, the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) revealed that it had witnessed extreme levels of acute malnutrition among those who had reached Tawila, calling it the most severe example of the malnutrition crisis that has gripped Sudan since the war began.
Fighting erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF when a transition to civilian rule broke down — a breakdown stemming from the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir four years earlier. The ensuing heavy conflict has devastated communities, displaced millions, and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Violence is spreading to other regions of Sudan as well. Since the end of October, nearly 40,000 people have fled fighting in North Kordofan. Many are journeying long distances on foot or by donkey cart, sleeping outdoors without shelter and going days without food, all while facing the constant fear of attack.
According to the IOM, there are increasing reports of alarming protection risks, including arbitrary detention, looting, physical assault, and gender-based violence. Tawila, which prior to the escalation hosted over 650,000 internally displaced persons, is now receiving dozens of seriously wounded Sudanese from El Fasher.
Despite the mounting need, humanitarian operations are on the verge of collapse. Warehouses are nearly empty, aid convoys face significant insecurity, and access restrictions continue to hinder the delivery of sufficient aid.
IOM is urgently appealing for increased funding and immediate, sustained, and safe humanitarian access to avert an even greater catastrophe. The UN organization is urging donors, partners, and the international community to act now to prevent further loss of life and ensure vulnerable communities can safely access assistance.
At a time when humanitarian needs in Sudan are at their highest, the size of the funding gap is staggering. As of today, only 28 percent of the US$4.16 billion humanitarian response plan for this year has been funded, with $1.17 billion received thus far.
Rape is being systematically used as a weapon of war
Also on Tuesday, the UN’s gender equality agency warned that rape is being used as a weapon in war-torn Sudan and that simply being a woman is a "strong predictor" of hunger, violence, and death.
“Women speaking to us from El Fasher, the heart of Sudan's latest catastrophe, tell us that they've endured starvation […] displacement, rape and bombardment,” said Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, to reporters in Geneva.
“Pregnant women have given birth in the streets as the last remaining maternity hospitals were looted and destroyed.”
Mutavati said that the situation is worsening dramatically as fighting spreads throughout the city while thousands of women and girls have fled to other areas in North Darfur, including Korma, Malit, and Tawila, which is about 70 kilometers away — places where a humanitarian presence is "very scarce."
“What the women tell us is that on their horrific journey […] every step that they've taken to fetch water, to collect firewood or to stand in a food line has carried a high risk of sexual violence,” said the UN Women representative.
“There is mounting evidence that rape is being deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war.”
Warning that women's bodies “have just become a crime scene in Sudan”, Mutavati insisted that there are “no safe spaces” left where women can find protection or access basic psychosocial care.
“Basic dignity has also collapsed,” she said, explaining that in North Darfur a single packet of sanitary towels costs around $27, while humanitarian cash assistance amounts to slightly below $150 per month for a family of six, on average.
Mutavati spoke of "impossible decisions" that families are forced to make, choosing between food, medicine, and dignity.
“The essential needs of women and girls fall to the very bottom of that list,” she said.
The UN official also explained that, as in other crises, women and girls in Sudan "eat the least and eat last."
“Most women and girls may not be eating at all in Sudan […] Women often skip meals so that their children can eat, while adolescent girls frequently get the smallest share, undermining their long-term nutrition and health,” she said.
“In besieged, remote areas like Darfur or Kordofan, women and girls are often the ones that are scavenging for survival,” Mutavati added, citing reports of women “foraging for wild leaves and berries to boil into soup” while facing additional risks of violence.
In early November, the latest UN-backed IPC food security analysis confirmed famine conditions in El Fasher, as well as in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state.
Mutavati said health workers are reporting rising cases of severe acute malnutrition in infants, which are often linked to their starving mothers’ reduced ability to breastfeed.
“There's a ripple effect of the hunger that women are experiencing,” she warned.
Calling for an end to the violence and for broader humanitarian access, as well as increased support for women-led soup kitchens and other aid providers, Mutavati stressed that women and girls in Sudan “are the measure of our shared humanity.”
“Every day that the world delays to act on Sudan, another woman gives birth under fire, or buries her child in hunger or disappears without justice,” she said.
Famine declared in El Fasher and Kadugli
According to the Famine Review Committee (FRC), famine conditions (IPC Phase 5) are occurring in El Fasher and the town of Kadugli in South Kordofan State — two areas largely cut off by conflict from commercial supplies and humanitarian assistance, where the famine thresholds for food consumption, acute malnutrition, and mortality have been surpassed.
The FRC's latest report states that conditions in the besieged town of Dilling are estimated to be similar to those in Kadugli. However, a lack of data prevents the International Food Security Classification (IPC) from assessing this area, due to restricted humanitarian access and ongoing hostilities.
On Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that the state capital Kadugli and the nearby town of Dilling remain under siege with widespread insecurity restricting access to thousands of families in need of urgent aid.
In contrast, conditions have slightly improved in the Western Nuba Mountains, prompting a shift from risk of famine to IPC Phase 4 (emergency). Nevertheless, the FRC warns that the risk of famine remains high unless humanitarian access improves.
Famine is also a risk in an additional 20 areas across the Darfur and Kordofan regions. These areas comprise rural communities and displacement camps, including several locations in East Darfur and South Kordofan.