Photo credit: oxfamerica
Paris, November 13, 2025 – The Mediterranean Centre for Peace and Security (CMPS) expresses its deepest concern at the worsening humanitarian and security crisis in Sudan, particularly in North Darfur and Kordofan, where the civilian population continues to suffer the devastating effects of the conflict. Since the capture of El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary forces in October 2025, nearly 89,000 people have fled the towns of Tawila, Melit, Saraf Omra, and surrounding areas, adding to the millions displaced since the start of the fighting in April 2023.
Women and girls are subjected to systematic sexual violence, used as a weapon of war, including rape, physical assault, abduction, and forced marriage. These attacks deliberately target civilian populations to intimidate, humiliate, and control communities. Deprivation of food, healthcare, and access to safe spaces exacerbates their vulnerability, and women are often forced to make impossible choices between their own survival and that of their children. CMPS emphasizes that these crimes constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, and calls on the international community to take action to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable.
CMPS also condemns the extrajudicial killings, attacks on hospitals, schools, and camps for displaced persons, and the abductions and assassinations of humanitarian workers and local volunteers, as reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which estimates that hundreds of civilians have been killed during operations and on evacuation routes. Doctors and humanitarian workers have been detained or assaulted, and numerous civilians are routinely targeted because of their perceived political affiliations.
Furthermore, hunger, malnutrition, and limited access to healthcare are hitting the most vulnerable hardest. According to the latest assessments by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF, famine conditions (IPC Phase 5) are now confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli, while the global acute malnutrition (GAM) rate reaches up to 75% among children in some areas. These crises are exacerbated by the collapse of markets, the destruction of critical infrastructure, and the spread of diseases such as cholera, malaria, and measles.
In the Darfur and Kordofan regions affected by active violence, hundreds of thousands of families continue to survive without reliable access to food, clean water, or medical care. The impacts of climate change, combined with the war, further exacerbate the vulnerability of displaced populations, particularly in Chad and South Sudan, where infrastructure is insufficient to absorb the influx of refugees.
CMPS urges:
- An immediate cessation of hostilities and strict adherence to international humanitarian law;
- The protection of civilians, particularly women and children, and humanitarian workers;
- Safe, continuous, and unimpeded humanitarian access, enabling the distribution of food, healthcare, clean water, and psychosocial support;
- Strengthened support for programs assisting victims of sexual violence; and
- An immediate international commitment to prevent the spread of famine and support reconstruction and stability in affected areas.
CMPS emphasizes that every delay in international mobilization leads to death, malnutrition, and extreme suffering for civilian populations. The women and girls of Sudan are a reflection of our shared humanity. It is imperative that the international community act now to protect the lives and dignity of civilians and end this humanitarian tragedy.
Contact: secretariat@cmps-med.org