When aid cannot enter: Sudan’s descent into the world’s largest Humanitarian Crisis.

Over 30.4 million people in Sudan – more than half the county’s population – are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2025. (OCHA, s.d.)

What began as a contest of military and political dominance has evolved into a full-scale civil war that has shattered state institutions and left civilians trapped in cycles of violence and deprivation. Since 15 April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, triggered by the violent power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former ally, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).  The human cost is staggering: more than 11 million people have been displaced within Sudan, marking the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, while over 3 million others have fled to neighboring countries in search of safety. In less than two years, the Sudanese war has transformed from a political struggle into one of the gravest humanitarian emergencies of the 21^st century. 

Humanitarian Emergency

Sudan faces the world’s largest humanitarian crisis: according to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025, over 30.4 million people require humanitarian assistance. Entire regions such as Darfur, Kordofan and Gezira have become inaccessible to aid convoys. The destruction of markets, hospitals and water networks have left millions dependent on emergency food and medical supplies that cannot often reach them because of insecurity and bureaucratic restrictions. 

In October 2025, the Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed Famine (IPC Phase 5) conditions in North Darfur and South Kordofan. These are the first officially declared famines in Sudan in over a decade. the report then found that 21.2 million people face crisis or worse food insecurity (IPC Phase 3+)

Analysts attribute this catastrophe not to drought or climate shocks but to man-made siege conditions: market destroyed, roads mined and humanitarian aids deliberately blocked. This use of starvation as a weapon of war violates international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime under Rome Statute. 

Both the SAF and the RSF have been implicated in large-scale attacks on civilians. In El Fasher, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) documented the killing of at least 53 civilians between 7 and 10 October 2025. In West Darfur, RSF-aligned militias have been accused of ethnic massacres against the Masalit community, while the SAF’s airstrikes in densely populated areas of Khartoum and Gezira have caused thousands of civilian deaths.  Humanitarian actors face immense danger: convoys attacked, warehouses looted, and visas denied. The World Food Programme has warned that without safe access, famine will expand to new areas by early 2026.