Sexual Violence Used as Weapon of War in Sudan, Humanitarians Warn, Demanding Security Council Action
World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis Calls for Ceasefire, Unhindered Aid Access
Horrifying, systemic sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Sudan — including against children — the Security Council heard today, as its members underscored the need to protect civilians, assist survivors, and ultimately, end the war causing this suffering.
“Nearly two years into the conflict, Sudan is now the largest and the most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world,” said Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Today’s meeting took place as ongoing fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces further worsened an already-dire humanitarian situation.
Entire Generation of Children Out of School
With the economy and social services in “near collapse”, Ms. Russell reported that nearly two thirds of Sudan’s population — more than 30 million people — will require humanitarian assistance in 2025. Of these, 16 million are children. She also pointed to 1.3 million children under five living in famine hotspots, 3 million children under five at imminent risk of deadly disease and 16.5 million school-aged children — “nearly an entire generation” — out of school.
“In Sudan today, sexual violence is pervasive,” she continued. It is used to humiliate, dominate, disperse, forcibly relocate and terrify an entire population, and there are currently an estimated 12.1 million women and girls — and increasingly, men and boys — at risk of such violence. This is an 80 per cent increase from 2024. “The trauma these children experience, and the deep scars it leaves behind, do not end with the signing of a ceasefire or a peace agreement; they will need ongoing care and support to heal and rebuild their lives,” she observed. However, humanitarian actors face frequent bureaucratic impediments, and humanitarian workers themselves are at risk.
She added that — if a ceasefire cannot be achieved “immediately” — temporary humanitarian pauses and localized ceasefires must be urgently pursued. Further, the world must call for the protection of children, and the Council must pressure all parties to ensure the rapid, unimpeded and safe movement of humanitarian workers and supplies. “We cannot reach children in desperate need and reverse famine when bureaucratic and administrative impediments stand in our way,” she stressed. Also calling for the halt of military support to the parties and a massive mobilization of humanitarian funding, she warned that — without these urgent actions — a “generational catastrophe” will result.
Two Years of Violence Met with Two Years of Inaction
Further detailing the situation on the ground was Christopher Lockyear, Secretary-General of Médecins Sans Frontières, who said that two years of unrelenting violence, devastation, displacement and death have plagued Sudan — “met with two years of indifference and inaction”. Parties to the conflict are not only failing to protect civilians — “they are actively compounding their suffering”, he stressed. While the Sudanese Armed Forces have repeatedly and indiscriminately bombed densely populated areas, the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have unleashed a “campaign of brutality” marked by systematic sexual violence, abduction, mass killing, the looting of aid and the occupation of medical facilities.
“From the very start, the violence has been merciless,” he said, noting that it reached “unthinkable levels” in West Darfur. His teams in Chad treated over 800 wounded people in just three days as thousands of Masalit civilians fled El Geneina after the Rapid Support Forces seized the city. “Survivors told us how simply belonging to the Masalit community had become a death sentence,” he recalled. In South Darfur, throughout 2024, his teams provided care to 385 survivors of sexual violence. The vast majority — including some younger than five — had been raped, often by armed men. “Women and girls are not merely unprotected; they are being brutally targeted,” he stressed.
The devastating impact of the war is compounded by restrictions on humanitarian access, and he underscored that “assertions of sovereignty cannot continue to be weaponized to restrict the flow of aid”. He also stated that the Council’s repeated calls to end the conflict, protect civilians and ensure unimpeded aid delivery “ring hollow” as “civilians remain unseen, unprotected, bombed, besieged, raped, displaced, deprived of food, of medical care, of dignity”. Calling for a new humanitarian compact that guarantees aid organizations the operational space they need, as well as full redeployment of UN humanitarian agencies in Darfur and across Sudan, he stated: “The crisis in Sudan demands a fundamental shift away from the failed approaches of the past — millions of lives depend on it.”
Delegates Express Shock
As Council members weighed in, many expressed shock at what they had just heard. “The most recent UNICEF report on the situation of children in Sudan is simply horrifying,” said Algeria’s representative, also speaking for Guyana, Sierra Leone and Somalia. He therefore demanded an immediate end to violence against women and girls in Sudan, also underlining the need to explore “all possible ways” to enhance protection and provide adequate support — including comprehensive mental-health services and safe spaces. He urged: “As we engage in the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Sudanese women must not be forgotten.”
Children are enduring “unimaginable horrors”, said the representative of the Republic of Korea, pointing to a sharp increase in grave violations, including the appalling rape of four one-year-old infants. “In Sudan, some children have endured unbearable horrors that would break an adult, let alone the body of a fragile infant,” echoed his counterpart from Slovenia. Stressing that “these horrors go beyond human comprehension”, she condemned the weaponization of conflict-related sexual violence. “Gender-based violence is not just the collateral damage of a conflict,” observed Panama’s representative — “it is one of the most destructive weapons used to disrupt resistance and dash the hopes of the Sudanese people”.
“It is clear that greater international action is needed to tackle widespread sexual violence in Sudan,” said Ray Collins, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom. For its part, London is providing sexual and reproductive services to women and children in Sudan. However, he stressed that the international community must continue to press the warring parties to “comply with the commitments they made” in the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan. That point was echoed by other Council members, including the representative of France, who suggested the creation of a mechanism to monitor and verify those commitments.
The representative of Denmark, Council President for March, spoke in her national capacity to also express support for a monitoring mechanism aligned with commitments made in the Jeddah Declaration. And pointing to “an insidious cycle of impunity” fuelling atrocities in Sudan, she stressed that accountability instruments — such as the resolution referring the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court — must be followed. “At this critical moment, Sudan needs more than words — it needs action by the international community,” underscored Greece’s representative, calling on all actors to implement clear directives to prevent further violations and engage with the UN to develop action plans to protect children from this conflict.
Hostilities Must End
Council members also stressed the need to end that conflict, with China’s representative observing that “the dawn of peace has not emerged” despite almost two years of hostilities. He therefore called on all parties to implement relevant Council resolutions, establish a ceasefire during Ramadan and create conditions to improve humanitarian access. Similarly, the representative of Pakistan called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, stressing that “the conflict will not be resolved on the battlefield [and] war will only bring more death and destruction to the Sudanese people”. He also condemned the signing of a charter by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies to establish a parallel governing authority in Sudan.
On that, the representative of the Russian Federation recalled that the Council issued a press statement on 5 March that contained a “negative assessment” of the Rapid Support Forces’ attempts to create “parallel bodies of power”. (See Press Release SC/16012.) Now, anti-Government forces are planning to issue passports and mint currency, and he underscored that the Government’s exclusive prerogative to do such actions should “never be questioned”. Further, he urged those present to “acknowledge that the authorities are doing a lot to stop violence against women and children”. However, he said that “serious improvements” will only be possible if hostilities end.
United States Waives Foreign Aid Cuts for Life-Saving Assistance
“Allowing this conflict to continue is a threat to the security and stability of the region and beyond,” stressed the representative of the United States, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access. Turning to President Donald J. Trump’s executive order on re-evaluating and re-aligning the United States’ foreign aid, she said that the Secretary of State approved a waiver for life-saving humanitarian assistance, covering emergency food, medicine, shelter and subsistence assistance, including for Sudan. Additionally, she said that the violence against women and children in Sudan is “unconscionable”.
For his part, Sudan’s representative said that the Rapid Support Forces use sexual violence as a weapon of war, and that allied militias have employed “systematic mass rape to humiliate and subjugate men in targeted areas”. He also detailed cases of forced marriage, sexual slavery and forced displacement by the Rapid Support Forces. While spotlighting the State’s efforts to combat this violence and support survivors, he said that Sudan requires the United Nations’ support to facilitate women’s access to justice; establish temporary shelters for victims; strengthen reproductive-health services; and create effective protection mechanisms to combat all forms of gender-based violence and ensure that no perpetrator enjoys impunity.
The representative of the United Arab Emirates then called for robust mechanisms to protect civilians and an enhanced UN presence throughout Sudan. He also urged the Council to include conflict-related sexual violence as a stand-alone designation criterion in the relevant sanctions regime, underscoring that all perpetrators must be held accountable. Relatedly, he stressed that international pressure should be increased on the parties to reach a permanent ceasefire and return to a comprehensive political process. “The devastation is clear and caused by the reprehensible choices of the two warring generals, who remain hellbent on continuing this war — regardless of the cost to the Sudanese people,” he stressed.
As the meeting drew to a close, the representatives of Sudan and the United Arab Emirates each took the floor two additional times, with the former pointing to the “sabotage played by the [United Arab Emirates] in my country” and the latter stating that “these baseless allegations do not warrant any attention”.
__________
* The 9877th Meeting was closed.