As Sudan marks “1,000 days of a brutal war,” the Security Council on Thursday heard that women and girls are enduring horrific sexual violence, as a civil society briefer issued a blunt warning: “Unless you act now, you will have more blood on your hands.”
“And as we near the fourth year of the war, the fighting continues to expand,” warned Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in her briefing to the 15-member Council.
She described a conflict marked by “staggering violence and unimaginable suffering” and total impunity for the perpetrators of a long list of atrocities and war crimes that has nearly destroyed Africa’s third-largest country.
Frontlines are shifting, she said, across North Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile states, with military activity, including drone attacks, putting civilians at great risk. North Kordofan’s capital, El Obeid, is besieged from three sides by the Rapid Support Forces, also known as the RSF.
Act now to prevent regional spillover, strengthen the humanitarian truce
“The risk of regionalization of the conflict is a matter of urgent concern,” she added, citing the 16 January announcement by Chad that seven soldiers were killed in a confrontation with Rapid Support Forces’ elements. Weapons continue to transit through Sudan’s neighbours, and civilians face grave threats, including summary executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and family separation. “The time to act to prevent a repeat of atrocities elsewhere in the country is now,” she stressed.
She welcomed progress in the initiative by the Quad countries — Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States — to secure a humanitarian truce and urged the warring Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to engage with it “in good faith and without preconditions”. Any ceasefire must be anchored in a credible political process backed by the Quintet partnership among the African Union, European Union, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, League of Arab States, and the United Nations. “Unified messaging and strong action by the Security Council is more important than ever,” she stressed.
Mass atrocities: Indicators of genocidal path
“The humanitarian toll of the fighting is egregious,” reported Edem Wosornu, Director of the Crisis Response Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. She noted that, earlier today, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan issued a report describing atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces in and around El Fasher in late October 2025 as “indicators of a genocidal path”. And, for over 12 million women and girls, she stressed that this is “a crisis within a crisis”, with “horrific” levels of sexual violence.
Against that backdrop, she underscored that the scale, severity, and brutality of gender-based sexual violence demand urgent international action to support survivors, prevent further abuse, reinforce protection services, and hold perpetrators accountable. “Protecting women and girls must remain central to any effort to protect civilians in Sudan,” she urged.
Sudan has been “stripped of its essential lifelines”, she said, as basic services are nearing total collapse, food is largely unavailable in markets and most health facilities have exhausted their medical supplies. She therefore called on the Council to act, urgently, in three areas: use influence to urge the parties to respect international law and protect civilians; ensure that humanitarians are protected, and that their work is facilitated and funded; and work to stop the fighting, stem the flow of weapons and press for the peace “that the people of Sudan so desperately need”.
Horrific sexual violence against women and girls
Hala Alkarib, Regional Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, said that returning to brief the Security Council a third time to report conditions have worsened “is an indictment not just of the warring parties, but of the Council’s inability to stop the bloodshed”. “Every red line — siege, forced displacement, man-made famine, genocide, mass rape — has been crossed,” she stressed. Drone attacks by all parties are killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools, and markets; the escalation of the conflict is already destabilizing the entire region. “Unless you act now, you will have more blood on your hands,” she warned.
“Women, regardless of who they are, face systemic violence by all actors,” she went on to say, describing patterns that include rape, torture, enslavement, trafficking, detention, abductions, and killing.
She said her organization had documented over 1,294 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, with several ethnic communities deliberately targeted. Yet violations are underreported due to deliberate restrictions of access, targeted communications blackout, and retaliation. Women also face detention and abuse in areas controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces, where many are accused of collaboration, “often based solely on their ethnicity”.
She urged the Council to demand an immediate cessation of hostilities, expand the arms embargo to all of Sudan, hold violators accountable through targeted sanctions, support Sudanese women-led organizations, and guarantee that Sudanese women are meaningfully included in all efforts to resolve the conflict.
‘Hallmarks of genocide’ in El Fasher should be a turning point
In the ensuing discussion, Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, recalled that her country led the commissioning of the fact-finding mission that documented the “hallmarks of genocide” in El Fasher. “El Fasher should have been a turning point; instead, now the violence is continuing,” she said.
Underscoring the need for action, she reported that her country has sanctioned several senior Rapid Support Forces commanders. Similarly, France’s representative expressed support for sanctioning “RSF generals whose responsibility for these crimes has been proven”.
While the United States has also sanctioned certain Rapid Support Forces commanders, that country’s representative stressed that neither humanitarian funding nor accountability alone will end this war. Rather, he emphasized that a sustainable resolution requires “restoring a strong constitutional framework, safeguarding national institutions from partisan capture, dismantling militia structures, and preventing extremist domination of the State”.
Calls for unhindered humanitarian funding, aid delivery, and ending impunity
On the dismal humanitarian front, China’s representative called on the international community to “responsibly honour their funding pledges”.
The representative of the Russian Federation also expressed concern that “a little bit more than one third of the humanitarian response plan had been covered last year”. Moscow rejected the manipulation of food security.
Greece’s delegate also said that while such aid relief is essential, it “cannot substitute for a political solution”, and Bahrain’s delegate called on the Security Council to ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance.
Member states’ detail financial, political, and humanitarian support for Sudan
In line with that support, the representative of Saudi Arabia noted his country’s $3.1 billion contribution as a “reflection of our clear commitment to Sudan”. Moreover, a representative of the European Union’s delegation said the bloc is acting through the Quintet to support civilian dialogue and has been working on a “de-escalation track dedicated to the protection of critical civilian infrastructure”.
Türkiye’s speaker pointed to the continued presence of his country’s Embassy in Port Sudan, emphasizing that “stability is intrinsically linked to the normalization of the country and daily life”.
Egypt’s representative also detailed his country’s support for Sudan, including by hosting hundreds of thousands of Sudanese in their “second home” of Egypt. He spotlighted, however, his country’s “red lines” concerning Sudan, which include ensuring Sudan’s unity and territorial integrity, preventing any tampering with its resources or secession of any part of its territory.
The speaker for the United Arab Emirates rejected “unfounded allegations” levelled against his country. Condemning violations by both sides in Sudan, including starvation and sexual violence as weapons of war, he backed the United States plan for an immediate, unconditional humanitarian truce.
Sudan says government’s road map key to ‘confronting existential threat’
Sudan’s representative framed the conflict as “a war of systemic aggression waged by regional and international forces”. Sudan faces “a single choice confronting an existential threat that is working like a plague to dismantle the Sudanese State”, he said. Sudan’s road map, presented to the Council in December 2025, aims to make peace based on national ownership, through confidence-building measures, recovery and national reconciliation, and to hold elections.
Calling for steps to cut off the flow of weapons, ensure uninterrupted aid delivery and respect for international humanitarian law, he also shared that his Government has opened corridors such as the Adre crossing, expanded malnutrition treatment for children and women, and scaled cash transfer programmes and community kitchens.
He further expressed support for the joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and Egypt. “Ending external military interference must precede any other step,” he said, adding: “It is the key to stopping the war and to enhancing civilian protection”.