Sudan is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, resulting in more than half of the population, 30.4 million, needing humanitarian assistance. With nearly two years of conflict, 5.8 million women and girls are internally displaced, facing grave risks to their safety, health, and livelihoods. In 2024, the conflict triggered a 288% increase in demand for gender-based violence (GBV) services, with an estimated 12.1 million people at risk, a stark reflection of how violence against women is used as a weapon of war. Safety concerns and long distances mean 80% of displaced women cannot access clean water. Close to 80% of hospitals in conflict zones are non-functional, severely limiting access to maternal care and reproductive health services. Women are also disproportionately affected by acute food insecurity, with 24.6 million people facing hunger and women-headed households among the most vulnerable.
Despite these challenges, Sudanese women have mobilized to lead local peace efforts, humanitarian responses, and advocacy for their rights. However, they remain largely excluded from formal peace processes, such as the Jeddah and Geneva negotiations. At the Sudan Women’s Peace Dialogue convened by the African Union, Sudanese women leaders demanded an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian access, and 50% representation in all peace and governance processes to ensure women’s rights and security are central to Sudan’s future.
On the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security (WPS), Sudanese women are calling for the full implementation of the WPS agenda to end Sudan’s conflict and address the dire humanitarian crisis.
At the recent Beijing+30 Multi-Stakeholder Hearing, organized by the President of the UN General Assembly and UN Women, Hanin Ahmed, women’s rights advocate and External Relations Officer of Sudan’s community-led Emergency Response Rooms, issued a call to action: the world must not forget Sudan. Read her statement below.
[As delivered]
Vice President Massari, Executive Director Bahous, Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
It is my honor to join this Interactive multi-stakeholder hearing on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as a young Sudanese women’s rights advocate.
I would like to extend my thanks to the President of the General Assembly, as well as UN Women and the Compact on Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action, for the opportunity to share the experiences of my grassroots movement, the Emergency Response Rooms of Sudan, as we, more than 20,000 volunteers, work tirelessly to fulfil the vision of the SDGs, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Since April 2023, over 25 million people in Sudan, which is half of the country’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 12 million plus have been displaced. We are witnessing mass executions, ethnic cleansing, and the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.
As Sudan enters the second year of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises amid unspeakable violence, starvation, and displacement, Sudanese women and youth have stepped up with unmatched courage, not only to save lives but to share power and build peace.
The Emergency Response Rooms are grassroots, women-led and youth-led humanitarian networks who are keeping hope alive in Sudan. With few resources and no protection. We organize community kitchens, provide emergency medical care, distribute essential supplies, and evacuate civilians trapped by violence. We have been able to reach 118 localities across 14 states, and we are in coordination with other 4 states through our coordination platform, the Localization Coordination Council (LCC).
Excellencies,
I would like to highlight two of the strategies that the Emergency Response Rooms have prioritized for the most impact:
1) Advocating for Inclusive Peace Processes – Women peace champions are on the front lines, negotiating safe passage, providing critical aid, and advocating for peaceful
solutions. Despite their pivotal role in stabilizing communities and reducing conflict-related vulnerabilities, their contributions remain underappreciated and insufficiently supported. We demand that Sudanese women, particularly those from the frontlines, such as those in the Emergency Response Rooms, be included as decision-makers—not just observers—in peace talks, in line with the Women, Peace and Security Agenda on women’s full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation in conflict resolution.
2) Localizing Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Efforts – We focus on empowering Sudanese women-led grassroots networks to lead crisis response, aligning with SDG 5 and SDG 16. The Response Rooms exemplify women’s leadership in humanitarian aid, directly reflecting the Beijing+30 agenda’s emphasis on women’s agency in crisis response and the call for funding local women’s organizations in conflict zones.
As we look towards 2030, we urge you to center the voices and leadership of Sudanese women who are risking everything, not only for survival but for dignity, agency, and a more just future.
Excellencies,
The Emergency Response Rooms are community-driven and harnessed in multistakeholder action. And I commend Generation Equality for highlighting the value of multistakeholder partnerships.
As we speak, the mothers in El Fasher are grinding birdseed into flour to feed their children yet are still organizing communal kitchens to make sure every child receives at least one meal a day.
In Kassala State, local women’s groups, the ERRs, and other mutual aid groups rebuilt flood-damaged homes. Youth volunteers provided labor and logistics, international NGOs such as OCHA, IRC and other partner teams supplied materials, and local Diaspora Networks crowdfunded additional support.
We have learned through our platform, Localization Coordination Council, that when global actors redirect funding to grassroots women-led organizations, bypassing intermediaries, progress accelerates.
To fully realize the SDGs, the Beijing +30 Action Agenda, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, I would like to make three recommendations:
- First, ensure support for the work of women’s organizations. As we move from “from Aid to Agency,” the international community must stop seeing Sudanese women as passive recipients of support. They are the leaders, the planners, the visionaries. And they are asking for only one thing: the means to continue saving their communities and rebuilding their nation. In Kassala, women are rebuilding flood-damaged homes with only $300 per family. Imagine what they could do with more investment.
- Second, Put Women at the Center of Peace and Aid Strategies, Include women leaders in all peace processes – not as observers but as architects. They have already earned that seat at the table through sacrifice and results.
- Third, Protect the Protectors. Demand accountability for the targeted violence against aid workers and volunteers. I share with you the story of (name changed), Fatima, in White Nile State, who was distributing sanitary pads and soap to displaced women when soldiers found her. They violated her in front of her disabled son. Yet, when we evacuated her, her first question was, “Who will take over my distribution route? I urge you to create mechanisms to protect those providing frontline care in war zones.
As we reflect on Beijing+30, we must acknowledge that Sudanese women, and women in conflict and crisis zones around the world, have long embodied its goals without protection, without funding, and often without recognition. Yet they persist. The question isn’t whether they will keep going. They will. The real question is: Does the world have the courage to fund them, protect them, and stand with them – not as victims, but as visionaries?
Last, but not least, we are the mothers of peace. We won’t wait for permission to save our people. Sudan’s future is being decided now. Don’t let the world forget us.
Thank you.
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The WPS-HA Compact is committed to supporting women’s leadership and participation in urgent and often-overlooked conflict and crisis situations.