Two years of devastation: Sudan's war leaves nation starving, scattered and silenced
What began as a political power struggle has now shattered lives, decimated infrastructure, and pushed 30.4 million people into urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
Today marks two years since Sudan plunged into a brutal armed conflict, a war ignited by two rival generals battling for power, and which has since spiralled into one of the world's most catastrophic humanitarian crises.
What began as a political power struggle has now shattered lives, decimated infrastructure, and pushed 30.4 million people into urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
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With over 26 million facing acute food insecurity, Sudan is collapsing under the weight of a war waged by men in uniform while civilians bear the consequences.
In August 2024, the Famine Review Committee of the IPC system made a chilling declaration: The Zamzam camp in North Darfur had reached the famine threshold, marking the first official famine classification globally in more than seven years.
Entire communities are starving while food production, storage, and distribution have been relentlessly disrupted or targeted.
According to Action Against Hunger's regional head for Africa, Paloma Martin de Miguel:
"It has become very difficult to work in Sudan. We are worse off than yesterday, but we will continue to work to make the situation better."
The organisation reminds all parties that the prevention of food aid delivery and attacks on food systems violate UN Security Council Resolution 2417, which remains largely ignored by those fueling this war.
Human cost
Beyond hunger, the human cost continues to deepen.
An estimated 12.1 million women and girls need urgent support against gender-based and sexual violence, with many forced to flee their homes to escape systemic abuse.
In 2024 alone, women and girls made up more than half of all Sudanese refugees.
Access to medical and psychosocial support is painfully limited, and humanitarian actors are being obstructed, delayed, or directly attacked in the very zones they aim to assist.
From April 2023 to December 2024, Action Against Hunger managed to reach 816,943 people across 15 regions with health and nutrition support — a staggering achievement amid worsening odds.
Their teams also provided protection and psychosocial support to 11,953 survivors of gender-based violence.
The two warring generals, Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his rival RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, entrenched in a bitter and destructive struggle for control, have shown no signs of resolution.
With no clear end in sight, the people of Sudan are left to mourn the second anniversary of a war that has robbed them of safety, sustenance, and hope.
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