Content Warning: Article makes references to sexual violence
It has been over two years since civil war erupted in Sudan, and the country continues to plunge deeper into a devastating humanitarian crisis. Since its inception, the conflict has seen tens of thousands of deaths, 13 million people displaced, and 25 million people facing acute hunger. However, despite rampant war crimes and mass atrocities, this crisis has flown largely under the radar in the West.
The current civil war broke out in April 2023 due to a clash between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In 2019, the groups were united in the ousting of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in a popular coup. Four years later, their alliance crumbled as a power struggle broke out between the leader of the SAF, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the leader of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, otherwise known as “Hemedti”.
The civil war has drawn extensive foreign involvement, with regional and international powers taking sides in the conflict, despite an official UN arms embargo in place. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the RSF’s most prominent supporter, facing credible accusations of funding, arming, and deploying troops to aid the paramilitary group. As an ally of the UAE, Libya’s Khalifa Haftar has been accused by the Sudanese army of aiding the RSF in northwestern Sudan. The RSF has also found support from the Wagner group, a Russian military contractor. On the other side, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia support the SAF. Additionally, ‘The Kyiv Post’ has indicated that Ukrainian special forces are on the ground in Sudan fighting with the SAF against Wagner group mercenaries.
What is at stake in this conflict?
The impact of the civil war in Sudan on the civilian population cannot be understated. The people of Sudan are facing widespread starvation, sexual violence, mass killings, and displacement. The fallout from the conflict has resulted in what a UN official has described as “the largest and most devastating displacement, humanitarian, and protection crises in the world today”. The UN has reported widespread sexual violence across the country, with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) documenting 221 cases of rape and a further 77 cases of sexual assault against children alone in 2024. Half the country’s population are in acute danger of a man-made famine. According to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), out of a total population of 47 million people, 30 million are in need of urgent humanitarian aid
The UN has found that there has been a rise in violence targeting civilians based on political, ethnic, and gender based grounds, with the RSF committing what amounts to crimes against humanity against civilians in Darfur based on ethnic identity, targeting ethnic groups such as the Zaghawa, Fur, Tunjur and Masalit. In January 2025, the US accused the RSF of carrying out a genocide in Darfur against these ‘non-Arab’ groups. This is the second time in two decades that Darfur has experienced ethnic violence. In the early 2000s, the Sudanese government, alongside its auxiliary majority- “Arab” militia known as the Janjaweed, were accused of committing widespread ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities against these same ethnic groups. What’s at stake here is more than a question of leadership – it’s a question of human suffering and the renewal of generational trauma inflicted upon innocent civilians.
How has the international community responded to the civil war?
The response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan from the international community has been wholly inadequate. There has been a distinct lack of Western media attention regarding the crisis in Sudan. Speaking with the BBC in September 2024, the Chief of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, argued that this is the most recent example of a pattern in which conflicts in Africa and the Middle East are not given the attention they deserve by the Western world.
Furthermore, funding cuts in foreign aid, particularly from the US and EU member states, have been disastrous for the Sudanese population as starvation persists across the country. The United States was the top donor of humanitarian aid to Sudan in 2024, providing nearly 44% of all foreign funding, yet the Trump administration announced devastating foreign aid cuts this year. According to the UNOCHA, the funding gap for humanitarian aid in Sudan has increased from $840 million in 2024 to $3.2 billion in 2025. 80% of food kitchens have been forced to close following these aid cuts, exacerbating the acute hunger facing half of the country’s population.
The University Times spoke with Senator Patricia Stephenson, the Social Democrats’ Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Trade, about the impact of foreign aid cuts to Sudan. As a former aid worker who has spent years working with Sudanese refugees in South Sudan, Senator Stephenson has seen firsthand the direct consequences of this conflict on the civilian population. As a result, she insists upon the urgency for the reinstatement of foreign aid, remarking that “there were always challenges in aid delivery in Sudan since the renewed conflict in 2023, but the impact of the USAID cuts and aid cuts from EU member states has compounded this and will have irrecoverable damage – without a doubt, people will die from hunger and preventable illness as a consequence.”
What can the international community do to better support long-lasting peace in Sudan?
Several countries, including Qatar, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, have led unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a ceasefire in the country. Following Washington’s postponed attempt in July to host a summit with representatives from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, these so-called “Quad” countries recently released a proposal calling for a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month maximum transitional period with the power placed in the hands of a civilian-led government. While reaching a ceasefire is vital, Sudan urgently needs a reinstatement of foreign aid and an end to the supply of weapons. It is also paramount that the international community supports regional diplomacy led by organisations such as the African Union and the Arab League to secure a long-term, civilian-led peace in Sudan.
While the war in Sudan has slipped largely under the radar in the West, it is not too late to effect positive change. It is imperative that countries in the West reinstate and increase funding to make humanitarian aid to Sudan a priority, along with supporting a ceasefire and attempts to broker long-lasting peace. In a time where conflict fatigue is at a high, the world must not forget about Sudan.
