FIELD UPDATES - Sudan
Situation Analysis
Following the fall of the President, Omer Al-Bashir, on 11 April 2019, and the subsequent formation of a transitional Government in August, there has been a reduction in the intensity and frequency of clashes between Government forces and the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW), as well as other factions operating in the greater Jebel Marra area. However, localized attacks against internally displaced persons and other vulnerable communities continued to expose civilians, particularly women and girls, to conflict-related sexual violence.
On April 15, 2023, violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and rapidly expanded across the country, following growing tensions over the political transition. Reports of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) almost immediately followed, and as a result of the conflict currently more than 11 million people have been forcibly displaced with women and girls facing increasing risks of sexual violence while fleeing conflict. Extensive shelling and aerial bombardment have destroyed civilian infrastructure, notably medical facilities, thereby limiting access to specialized services for survivors. On 1 December 2023, the Security Council decided to terminate the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the Sudan (UNITAMS). CRSV continues with a context of prevailing and entrenched impunity. Per the annual Report of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, in 2023, the UN documented widespread CRSV, including rape, gang rape, attempted rape, abduction and trafficking, perpetrated mainly against women and girls. The UN has also received credible information regarding the abductions of over 160 women and girls held in captivity, including reports of women and girls being raped and kept in slave-like conditions. There are reports that women and girls abducted in Khartoum State were taken to other parts of the Sudan, notably the Darfur region, allegedly in chains in the back of trucks. In almost all of these cases, Rapid Support Forces elements or affiliated militia were implicated. Some women and girls may have been subjected to forced prostitution or forced marriage, while in other cases families paid significant ransoms for the return of their relatives and loved ones.
Since the outbreak of renewed hostilities, the humanitarian situation has significantly worsened, while the humanitarian response plan remains funded at only 60%.
The Government of Sudan signed a Framework of Cooperation on the Prevention and response to CRSV with the United Nations in March 2020. This agreement has to be promoted and made well known, as it coincided with the outbreak of COVID-19. In April 2025, the Government of Sudan signed a renewed Framework of Cooperation with the United Nations to revitalise the work started by the first Framework and renew its commitment to addressing conflict-related sexual violence. UN Action stands ready to support its implementation, including through the urgent deployment of a Senior Women's Protection Advisor to coordinate the UN's response to conflict-related sexual violence in-country with the generous support of Government of Sweden.
The Senior Women's Protection Advisor plays a critical role in bringing together the UNCT, Government counterparts, and civil society organisations to systematically collect information, data, and analyse trends and patterns on conflict-related sexual violence and coordinate a holistic, survivor-centred response primarily through the Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) mechanism articulated by Security Council resolution 1960.
Joint Communiqué/Framework of Cooperation
Activities from WPAs and UNCT
From 2024 to 2025, UN Action has implemented a project in Sudan through member entities UNHCR and UNFPA. The project operates in the Western and Central Darfur areas and works to restore livelihoods for survivors of CRSV and those most at-risk. Read more here.
