A UN mission in Sudan described the situation in the war-torn country as “a crisis of humanity” on Tuesday.
Sudan has been engulfed in over two years of conflict between General Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with international mediation efforts failing to halt the fighting.
Mona Rishmawi, an expert with the UN fact-finding mission, stated that “what is happening in Sudan is not only a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity itself.”
She highlighted “widespread” sexual violence, children dying from hunger, and blocked humanitarian aid.
Rishmawi also noted that “a quieter but more brutal, perhaps, war is being waged on the bodies of women, girls and marginalised communities.”
The conflict, which started in April 2023, pits army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
It has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displaced 14.3 million people, making Sudan the world’s largest forced displacement crisis, according to the UN refugee agency.
The UN mission documented both sides increasingly using heavy weapons in populated areas.
Mohamed Chande Othman, the mission’s chair, stated that “civilians continue to pay the highest price” in this “increasingly complex, brutal” conflict.
The mission also reported that both warring parties are manipulating humanitarian aid.
Rishmawi explicitly said, “Hunger itself is being used as a weapon. Humanitarian aid… is deliberately manipulated.”
Despite Sudan’s refusal of access, the mission continues its investigative work, compiling a confidential list of alleged perpetrators of abuses.