Millions of Sudanese women who have fled the horrific violence that has engulfed much of the country remain haunted by vivid memories they cannot escape. The fear that shooting, bombardment, sexual violence, and starvation will follow them wherever they go is persistent and toxic.
This conflict has particularly upended the lives of women from Darfur. Some of them recently shared how trauma, along with extreme hunger and malnutrition, has become a daily reality.
“What’s happening in Sudan is a war on women and girls,” said Mohamed Tijani, CARE’s Head of Office in South Darfur. “It’s mostly women that we see in our clinics, mothers and their small, malnourished children. It’s women that we see in the displacement sites across Darfur. It is almost all women and children who are crossing the border into Chad. They travel so far with nothing, often with little but their small children on their backs. I hear their stories every day, of the horrors they faced while searching for safety, of their long, gruelling journeys, of the hunger and malnutrition their families have endured.”
A living nightmare
The living nightmare for millions of Sudanese has continued now for nearly 20 months, with no end in sight. Amid unthinkable violence, including pervasive sexual violence, 12 million across the country have been forced from their homes—within the country and to neighbouring states like Chad—making Sudan the largest displacement crisis in the world. Sudan holds another distinction: the biggest hunger crisis on earth, with more than half the population acutely food insecure.
Across Darfur, the fighting has resulted in significant casualties, damage to critical infrastructure, and deteriorating living conditions. Essential supplies like food, water, and fuel have been scarce. What is available for sale is exorbitantly priced. The siege of El Fasher, a city of 500,000 and the capital of North Darfur, began in April of this year and has placed an added layer of suffering on the region. Last August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) determined that famine occurred at the Zamzam Camp, 17 kilometres south of the city. The violence there has also significantly disrupted the delivery of critical aid into other parts of the country, as El Fashir serves as the main route for supplies into South, West, and East Darfur.
Hundreds of thousands from Darfur have fled to Chad, where more than 720,000 Sudanese have crossed the border. In eastern Chad, the strain on local resources has been immense. Before April 2023, when this conflict started, more than 6.9 million living in Chad needed humanitarian assistance. And like Sudan, Chad is grappling with its hunger crisis. The country ranks 125 out of 127 on the World Hunger Index, with high food prices, disrupted trade, and climate shocks worsening hunger.
Ending this devastating crisis requires political will and collective action to stop the conflict and address this acute human suffering. Warring parties must reach and abide by a country-wide ceasefire and uphold international humanitarian law (IHL)—including the protection of civilians—by immediately ceasing the targeting of civilians and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, protecting humanitarian workers and assets, and removing all obstacles to the sustained, timely, effective, and principled humanitarian aid delivery to all that urgently need it. Donors must urgently fund a gender-responsive multisectoral response that addresses the debilitating and deadly impact of acute hunger, malnutrition, and famine, as well as growing protection needs to recognize the shocking rise of Gender-Based Violence, including sexual violence. The international community must also demand an end to IHL violations and create an enabling environment for the humanitarian response. This action is needed now to prevent further suffering.
