Starvation was used as a weapon of war in Sudan for the last year of conflict. “The prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare is codified in Article 54(1) of Additional Protocol I.” according to the international humanitarian law. The belligerents in Sudan conflict used starvation as weapon to weaken other parties of the war. The leader of Sudanese Armed forces ( SAF) clearly announced prohibition of aid delivery to areas under Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control last February. The decision was later postponed on paper after international pressures, but in reality SAF continue to prevent any crossline aid delivery. This practice led millions of Sudanese trapped inside RSF control areas to starvation. In Khartoum, Aljazeera, Darfur and some areas of Kordofan over 7 million have already reached the stage of famine. RSF forces are also imposing crossline restrictions of aid movement, in addition to looting and intimidation of aid workers and civilians. This report is exploring the conditions on the ground and focus on the situation of women and girls starved by fighting parties in Sudan.
Women in Sudan have been living in catastrophic conditions since the outbreak of the April 15 war. Sudan is already at IPC5 levels of food insecurity which is the code for famine according to UN agencies. Half of the country’s population – 24 million- need urgent food assistance. More than 10 million have been displaced in recent months, the majority of them women and children. UNICEF said Sudan was experiencing the largest child displacement disaster, involving 3 million children, half of whom were girls. The country is in a state of complete collapse in basic services, including health, water, and electricity. This is with most hospitals shut down and severe shortages of life-saving medicines. Due to power and communications cuts, the number of dead and wounded is an estimate, and the number of women is not known among the total numbers, which have been estimated at more than 12,000 since April. Entire cities and neighborhoods are under siege and fighting continues inside neighborhoods in Khartoum and the states of Darfur and Kordofan. The United Nations has received only 33 percent of the funding needed to provide humanitarian aid, with an estimated need of $2.6 billion. Humanitarian efforts to provide food and shelter continue to be carried out mostly through local efforts with some international humanitarian assistance in safer states. Thousands of women and girls in several neighborhoods in Khartoum state, Darfur and Kordofan states have been under siege by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for several weeks. In this report we mapped the actors and factors contributed to the situation of famine in Sudan. The report provides a detailed picture of the situation in different states and the support needed to elevate the suffering Sudanese people with focus on women and girls.
