Christian aid organisations are urging the UK government and the UN not to let Sudan be forgotten, as the country passes 1000 days of conflict.

Violence and internal displacement have devastated the country since April 2023, when civil war broke out between the Sudanese Army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

World Vision, Christian Aid and CAFOD warn that over 33 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Christians already face hardship due to being a minority in the country, which is 97 per cent Muslim, and has traditionally been governed under Sharia law. 

World Vision emphasised that the crisis is one of the world’s “most severe” – particularly regarding violence against women and girls. FGM is rife in Sudan, with over 85 per cent of girls having experienced mutilation, according to the Christian network SAT-7. 

On the ground, vital services have collapsed, with up to 80 per cent of hospitals no longer operational, and nearly two-thirds of the population lacking access to healthcare. Sudan also faces the world’s largest food crisis, with over 21 million people experiencing acute food insecurity.

World Vision’s Operations Director for Sudan, Inos Mugabe, described the situation as an “absolute tragedy”.

“Children and their families are urgently escaping conflict areas, and they need immediate support. They look weary and severely malnourished. Their bodies are failing, and without urgent, large-scale intervention, right now, we will lose them.”

“The world must understand the gravity of this situation and act before it is too late,” he warned.

Christian charities are responding on the ground, supporting displaced families and providing emergency food, water, and shelter. However, sharp cuts in international aid have stripped funding from essential programmes, leaving many without the basics needed to survive.

In April, the charities will deliver a co-signed petition to Downing Street, marking three years since the conflict began.