OCHA urges Security Council to protect civilians and aid workers in Sudan

Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Sudan by Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director, Crisis Response Division, OCHA, on behalf of Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator

Thank you, Madam President,

Nearly three years have passed since this war began - more than one thousand days in which violence has spread relentlessly, humanitarian needs have deepened, and countless civilian lives have been shattered.

Since the beginning of this year alone, the situation in much of the Kordofan and Darfur regions, as highlighted by USG [for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary] DiCarlo, has deteriorated.

In recent weeks, we have seen an alarming escalation of drone attacks across the three Kordofan states, leading to more civilian deaths and injuries and forcing families to flee their homes. According to the International Organization for Migration, over 1 million people are now displaced in the region.

In North Kordofan, fighting around El Obeid – the state capital – continues, as armed groups battle for control of key routes. These clashes are restricting the humanitarian and commercial supplies and increasing shortages and deprivation.

South Kordofan has also seen intensified fighting and aerial attacks, particularly in and around the state capital, Kadugli, and the town of Dilling, to the north. Analysis of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) indicates that famine conditions may be prevalent in both locations.

Recent announcements were made that sieges in these locations had been broken. Convoys are now able to move from El Obeid to Kadugli and Dilling, but humanitarian access along these key supply lines remains unpredictable.

Blue Nile has also witnessed an escalation of conflict, including another airstrike in Yabus and reports of displacement following recent violence.

Madam President,

In Darfur, communities still endure overwhelming hardship. Reports of airstrikes and drone attacks across the region continue.

Earlier today, the International Independent Fact-Finding Mechanism for the Sudan issued a new report describing atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces in and around El Fasher in late October 2025 as "indicators of a genocidal path."

The most recent alert from the IPC confirmed that, in December, acute malnutrition rates in Um Baru and Kernoi localities, in North Darfur, exceeded famine thresholds. Although these levels are not the same as a famine classification, malnutrition is of great concern. 

In Tawila, North Darfur, families continue to arrive seeking safety. Recently, more than a thousand newly displaced people reached the locality, joining the 600,000 displaced already living there in dire conditions.

Earlier this month, a partner operating near the border with Chad reported 10 fatalities and many injuries due to drone strikes in Tine. These frontline responders continue to provide support in a hospital and in an overwhelmed transit camp just on the border with Chad.

The human toll of the fighting is egregious.

Once again, we remind all parties that they must protect civilians and ensure their essential needs are met. This includes taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, allowing civilians, many displaced multiple times, to move to safer areas, and allowing humanitarian relief to reach civilians in need safely.

Madam President,

For over 12 million women and girls, this is a crisis within a crisis. Violence against women and girls in Sudan has reached catastrophic levels. Demand for lifesaving prevention and response services has surged by 350 per cent since the conflict began.

You heard from USG DiCarlo and I will stress again, sexual violence against women and girls has reached horrific levels. Documented cases have nearly tripled – yet this is but a fraction of the real scale, given the barriers to reporting. Partners have also witnessed a sharp rise in female genital mutilation, domestic violence, exploitation, and child and forced marriage.

The IPC further warns that the number of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women estimated to face acute malnutrition has now reached 4.2 million people.

The scale, severity, and brutality of gender-based sexual violence demand urgent international action to support survivors, prevent further abuse, reinforce protection services, hold perpetrators to account.

Women-led organizations are also facing mounting intimidation, movement restrictions, and threats that disrupt vital services. Protecting women and girls must remain central to any effort to protect civilians in the Sudan.

Madam President,

In Sudan, health workers and humanitarian workers are risking their lives, working in the most challenging circumstances.

Four incidents in ten days have left humanitarian personnel killed or injured as they were delivering life‑saving food. The humanitarian community, as stressed by the Humanitarian Coordinator in her statement over a week ago, is outraged by the repeated attacks on the World Food Programme trucks, assets, and facilities.

Health facilities are also being targeted. The World Health Organization reported that in just one week this month, three health facilities were attacked in South Kordofan, killing 31 people – including children, women, and health workers.

Frontline responders are the backbone of our response, and yet they face the greatest risk of being killed or wounded as they try to support communities.

These unacceptable attacks are often carried out with total impunity. Since the conflict began, some 130 humanitarian workers — nearly all of them Sudanese — have been killed.

Aid workers and humanitarian assets must never be targets.

Madam President,

Sudan has been stripped of its essential lifelines.

Basic services are nearing total collapse, food is largely unavailable in markets in some parts of the country, means of livelihood are almost inexistent, and most health facilities have exhausted their medical supplies.

Amid this hardship, our humanitarian partners continue to respond with unwavering dedication.

Last year, partners reached 17.6 million people with humanitarian assistance, including nearly one million women and girls who received critical gender-based violence and reproductive health services.

This year, as fighting has turned deadlier for civilians, aid organizations have stepped up. In January, the UN and partners re-entered El Fasher and delivered critical aid. In Tawila, we are providing hot meals through community kitchens for example.

The Sudan Humanitarian Fund has allocated US$2 million to scale up life‑saving assistance in Northern State, North Kordofan, and White Nile following a recent visit from the Humanitarian Coordinator, Ms. Denise Brown. 

In South Kordofan, a joint UN convoy with supplies for more than 130,000 people reached the cities of Kadugli and Dilling, after being delayed for several weeks due to high insecurity – this is a significant breakthrough. Ot enough, but we are trying.

Also, we acknowledge with appreciation the cooperation of the Sudanese and Chadian authorities in keeping the Adre crossing open for humanitarian operations.  

Madam President,

Our capacity remains strained. Just as needs reach unprecedented levels, we grapple with critically low funding.

This year, we want to reach more than 20 million people through our hyper-prioritized Humanitarian Response Plan. But we need funding. We need it fast.

Madam President,

At a pledging event hosted on 3 February by the US government in Washington, D.C., the Emergency Relief Coordinator, USG Fletcher, urged the international community to redouble its efforts to end this war and the unbearable suffering of the people of Sudan. We need a humanitarian truce and unfettered access to reach people in need, across conflict lines and borders.

USG Fletcher called for a reenergized effort to fully fund the Humanitarian Response Plan. This includes support for air assets, medical evacuations, logistics, and other enabling assets that are critical for our operations. 

Today, I call on this Council to act with urgency in three areas: 

First: Use your influence to urge the parties to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians across Sudan.

Second: Ensure that humanitarians – including local partners who are at the frontlines, including women’s groups - are protected and their work facilitated. 

Third: We ask the members of the Council and all other Member States with influence to work together in pursuit of an immediate stop to the fighting, to stem the flow of weapons into Sudan, and to press for the lasting, inclusive peace that the people of Sudan so desperately need. 

We welcome the ongoing efforts led by the U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs, Mr. Boulos, together with the Quad, to secure a truce as a crucial step in this direction. 

Thank you, Madam President.