Aid agencies marked 1,000 days of war in Sudan on Friday, issuing a stark reminder that the conflict has caused the world's worst hunger crisis and largest emergency of forced displacement. Every day, civilians have been paying "the price for a war they did not choose," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The war in Sudan started on April 15, 2023, and today it has been going on for 1,000 days, with civilians continuing to bear the brunt of the conflict. Nearly 34 million people – around two-thirds of the population – now require humanitarian assistance, making this the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Food security conditions are catastrophic. Famine has been confirmed in El Fasher in North Darfur and in Kadugli in South Kordofan, with at least 20 other areas at risk. More than 21 million people are estimated to be experiencing acute food insecurity nationwide.
The latest UN data indicates that more than 9.7 million people have been displaced by conflict across the country, with more than 4.6 million fleeing to neighboring countries, placing immense strain on them.
Although many of those internally displaced have returned to the capital, Khartoum, massive challenges and dangers for civilians remain, including those posed by unexploded weapons. Elsewhere, fighting continues "across multiple fronts in Kordofan", which is further west, according to OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva on Friday, he noted that the towns of Kadugli - the capital of South Kordofan State - and Dilling - a town north of Kadugli - have been cut off by sieges, restricting access to food, healthcare and farms and markets.
Meanwhile, in Sudan's western region of Darfur, Laerke added that "fighting on the ground and drone attacks from the sky continue", while long-range strikes on civilian infrastructure have also been recorded far beyond the front lines.
Children continue to be killed and injured amid ongoing clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Earlier this week, eight children were reportedly killed in an attack in Al Obeid, North Kordofan.
According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 5,000 children have been displaced every day since the conflict began in April 2023.
“Many have been displaced not once but repeatedly, with violence following them wherever they flee,” said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires.
He warned that millions of children are also at risk of rape, with survivors including babies.
“Behind every one of these numbers is a child, frightened, hungry, sick and wondering why the world has not come to help,” Pires added.
Women are also victims of "rampant" sexual violence and abuse, with around 12 million people — mostly women and girls — at risk of gender-based violence, according to OCHA.
“Female-headed households are now three times more likely to be food insecure and three-quarters of these households report not having enough to eat,” Laerke said.
The global crisis in humanitarian funding has affected the work of the UN and its humanitarian partners in Sudan. Last year, donors only funded 36 percent of the requested US$4.2 billion.
In spite of mounting challenges, humanitarian organizations provided assistance to nearly 19 million people in 2025. Local and women-led organizations often serve as the primary or sole responders in high-risk areas. However, access remains dangerous and politically constrained; more than 125 aid workers have been killed since April 2023.
Due to the reduced financial support, OCHA aims to assist only 20 million of the nearly 34 million people believed to be in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan in 2026. This year's Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) is estimated to require $2.9 billion.
“Today our call is urgent: first, an immediate cessation of hostilities and real steps towards a lasting peace,” Laerke said.
“Second, adherence to international humanitarian law with access facilitated across conflict lines and protection of civilians including aid workers and civilian infrastructure.”
OCHA is also calling for renewed funding, especially for local and women-led non-governmental organizations.