Sudan's War Enters Fourth Year With 14 Million Displaced and Escalating Humanitarian Crisis

Sudan's War Enters Fourth Year With 14 Million Displaced and Escalating Humanitarian Crisis

Sudan's devastating civil war, which began on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has now displaced roughly 14 million people — approximately a quarter of the country's population — as it enters its fourth year with no end in sight.

According to UN News, Marie-Helene Verney, the representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Sudan, reported from Khartoum that 9 million people remain displaced inside Sudan while 4.4 million have crossed borders, fleeing primarily to Chad, South Sudan, and Egypt.

"Unfortunately, we are not seeing clear progress towards any resolution," Ms. Verney said, noting that fighting continues across large parts of the country, including the Kordofans, Darfur, and Blue Nile State.

Airstrikes and Widespread Abuses

Ms. Verney highlighted the "increased use of aerial bombardments and drone attacks," with airstrikes targeting civilian infrastructure "with no warnings." Serious human rights violations continue, including massacres, forced recruitment, and arbitrary arrests.

Women and girls face particular danger from conflict-related sexual violence, which "often takes place when they are trying to run for safety," according to Ms. Verney. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) identified over 500 victims of sexual violence in 2025 alone, while a record 11,300 civilians were killed that year, with many thousands more missing or unidentified.

The World's Largest Hunger Crisis

The displacement catastrophe is compounded by a severe food emergency. Hongjie Yang, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s representative in Sudan, said that 21 million Sudanese now face acute food insecurity, with 6.3 million in the most dire state of food emergency, according to UN News.

Rural households in conflict areas such as Darfur and the Kordofans are under the greatest pressure. Food production capacities have been "largely destroyed," particularly in Khartoum state, while the destruction of veterinary laboratories has left the country unable to produce vaccines for livestock.

Health System "Shattered"

Dr. Shible Sahbani, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Sudan, described the country's essential health services as "shattered." Over 40 percent of the population requires urgent health assistance, hospitals are overflowing, and disease outbreaks are widespread.

Attacks on the remaining functional hospitals have further reduced access to care. Over the three years of war, WHO has verified and documented more than 200 attacks on healthcare facilities, resulting in 2,052 deaths. Health workers have been killed, injured, detained, and tortured, according to UN News.

Dr. Sahbani also noted that the war in the Middle East has had additional impacts on the provision of humanitarian aid to Sudan, though the source material available does not elaborate on the specifics.

A Crisis Overshadowed

The UN has described Sudan's situation as one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. Despite the staggering scale of displacement, hunger, and violence, the crisis has received comparatively limited international media attention. The figures — 14 million displaced, 21 million facing hunger, over 11,000 civilians killed in a single year — represent a catastrophe that continues to deepen with each passing month.

Note: This article is based primarily on a single UN News report from Khartoum. The source material available for this piece was limited, and further reporting from additional sources would be needed for a more comprehensive account of the current situation in Sudan.