Sudan: From Feeding the World to Forgotten by It
As a Sudanese woman, I often wonder why my country continues to suffer so deeply. Is it because of our rich natural resources, our diversity, or the world’s belief that forty million Sudanese lives are too few to deserve the abundance they live on top of. Sudan’s story is one of beauty and tragedy — a land of many cultures torn apart by greed, discrimination, and power struggles. The ongoing war is not a simple conflict but a complex web of ethnic, political, and ecological interests, where the well-being of ordinary people has become secondary to the global race in the pursuit of resources. Under the world’s silent gaze, Sudan bleeds through air strikes, looting, and acts of genocide. It feels as though we are seen as “children of a lesser God,” unworthy of safety or peace, despite our deep history and humanity.
Al Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, embodies this suffering. Once a vibrant crossroads of trade and culture, the city has become a battleground of despair. After years of neglect and inequality culminating in the Darfur conflict of the early 2000s. The 2023 war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has reopened those yet to heal wounds. By 2024, Al Fasher was under siege — its people once again starved, hospitals destroyed, and children dying without medicine. The UN has warned that Sudan’s war is “spiralling out of control,” yet the world remains silent as the city becomes the symbol of a collapsing nation.
The war in Sudan has brought unimaginable suffering to civilians, with women and girls bearing the greatest burden. They continue to face rape, assault, and mutilation at the hands of multiple perpetrators, both in areas of active fighting and in displacement camps. According to a UN Women report released on 31 October 2025, violence against women and girls is pervasive — including sexual and gender-based violence, abductions, trafficking, arbitrary detention, and accusations of collaboration with warring parties. Even humanitarian workers and women in local organisations are not spared. In a survey of 152 women-led groups, 71% of respondents reported being at risk of sexual and gender-based violence, 56% at risk of harassment, and 65% at risk due to armed groups and checkpoints. These figures reveal only part of the crisis, reflecting a systematic campaign of violence designed to break the spirit of Sudanese women and silence their resilience.
Yet, amid the horror, Sudanese women rise. They feed their communities, care for the displaced, and rebuild what war destroys, often with no funding, protection, or recognition. These women lead with courage, even as the world looks away from the country that once fed it. Sudan was once called the “breadbasket of the world,” but today it starves under the weight of violence and neglect. My message to the world is simple: wake up. If nothing is done now, there will be no resources— not for us, and not for you.
References
UNICEF. (2025). After 500 days under siege, children in Sudan’s Al Fasher face starvation and mass death. UNICEF.org
Reuters. (2025, Nov 6). People fleeing Al Fashir, Sudan, are in disturbing condition, aid group says. Reuters.com
The Guardian. (2025, Nov 4). Sudan civil war spiralling out of control, UN secretary-general says. TheGuardian.com
UNICEF. (2025). Al Fasher Crisis: Situation Report. UNICEF Sudan
UN Women. (2025, October 29). Women and Girls in Sudan – Escalation of Hostilities. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-women-and-girls-sudan-escalation-hostilities-29-oct-2025
