UN agencies have reported that conditions across North Darfur and neighbouring Kordofan are worsening, with independent human rights experts warning that the fall of El Fasher has sharply increased risks for women and children. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on 26 October after an 18-month siege that cut residents off from food, medicine, and other essential supplies. The city had been the government’s last major stronghold in the Darfur region.
Families displaced by the fighting are now scattered across five locations surrounding El Fasher, including Tawila, while others have reached distant areas such as Dabbah in Northern State and even Khartoum. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has dispatched 1,485 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies to Tawila, enough to support approximately 130,000 people, supplementing ongoing assistance for those displaced earlier this year.
Renewed fighting in the Kordofan region is causing further large-scale displacement. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 1,800 people were displaced in South Kordofan on a single day, while nearly 40,000 were uprooted in North Kordofan between 25 October and 18 November. Sudan’s war, which began in April 2023 following a power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, marked by famine, mass displacement, and widespread atrocities.
Human rights experts have raised serious concerns about trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation and sexual slavery, as well as the recruitment of children as fighters, particularly since the RSF takeover of El Fasher. They reported that women and girls in RSF-controlled areas face abduction, while unaccompanied and separated children are at elevated risk of sexual violence and exploitation.
Since May 2024, when the siege of El Fasher began, over 470,000 people have been displaced multiple times from camps including Shagra, Zamzam, and Abu Shouk. Across Sudan, nearly 12 million people—half of them children—are now forcibly displaced or have fled to neighbouring countries, with sexual violence widely reported in conflict zones. Experts cited multiple incidents of rape and sexual abuse near RSF checkpoints and at displacement sites, including the gang-rape of 25 women near El Fasher University. They have urged all parties to immediately halt violations against civilians and called on Member States to take urgent action following the Human Rights Council’s recent special session.
In response, the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is preparing to travel to Port Sudan and Addis Ababa to press for renewed political dialogue. His mission will focus on ensuring civilian protection and unhindered humanitarian access across Darfur and Kordofan.
