Sudan has been in turmoil for years due to multiple coups, power control struggles, and lack of stability. Being one the poorest countries in the world, Sudan’s 50 million people are living on an average annual income of $790 (£600) a head in 2025. Since 2023, the country has been drawn into a civil conflict between two conveying forces, having displaced over 8.2 million people in what the UN calls the “world’s largest displacement crisis.”
What Led to the Civil War?
Ever since Sudan’s independence, the country has suffered from weak stability, starting from several attempted and successful coups to a longtime dictator in 1989. In 1989, Colonel Omar al-Bashir successfully led a coup and turned the country from a pro-Western leaning nation towards a self-isolated one. al-Bashir established a strict Islamic legal code on the national level, purged the government, and banned political parties.
In 2019, protests helped oust al-Bashir after three decades in power. A civil-military government was formed, but tensions between the civilian and military leaders culminated in a military coup by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in October 2021, derailing hopes for full democratic transition.
Following the coup, a significant paramilitary force in the country, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), became a part of Sudan’s security forces yet managed to maintain significant autonomy. The RSF is the same paramilitary group responsible for the genocide of non-Arab populations in the Darfur region. After the 2021 coup, tensions over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army escalated, leading to a shooting which catalysed open war between the SAF and RSF in April 2023.
It is important to note that the majority of the Sudanese population does not want either the RSF or the SAF to be in control of the government, but rather a democratic civilian government.
Current Situation?
“Now more than ever, two years on, the people of Sudan need your action,” commented Edem Wosornu of the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office, OCHA, on February 26th. Sudan is facing the largest humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. Right now, the government of Sudan has been deliberately blocking humanitarian aid access to its citizens, especially in RSF controlled areas. This has disrupted the already limited food and health supplies across the country and consequently created a catastrophic crisis, with nearly half of the country facing food insecurity levels near famine or in famine conditions. Additionally, the World Food Programme, which is the largest provider of food aid in Sudan, has said that it has been forced to pause food distributions in Sudan’s famine-plagued refugee camp, Zamzam, in North Darfur due to repeated attacks by the RSF. Furthermore, nearly 80% of healthcare centers in the country are inoperable or closed.
Map: Pink is for SAF, Green is for RSF, l.r. Stands for local resistance as armed groups spend most of their time protecting their territory and ethnic minority populations against the SAF and RSF. (Wikicommons)
How Has the International Community Helped?
The recent freezing of USAID funds by President Donald Trump has halted the largest provider of food relief in Sudan, resulting in over 70% Sudanese-run emergency kitchens closing.
Moreover, the International Crisis Group described diplomatic efforts to end the war as “lackluster,” while Amnesty International condemned the global response as “woefully inadequate.” The international community has helped with starting multiple peace negotiations, yet they have all failed to halt the conflict between the SAF and RAF. In May 2023, U.S. and Saudi-mediated talks in Jeddah led to a ceasefire agreement, but violations by both parties contributed to its collapse. Subsequent negotiations in Geneva in August 2024, co-hosted by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, were undermined by the SAF’s absence, as they demanded RSF withdrawal from occupied cities prior to engaging in dialogue. The RSF’s recent formation of a parallel government further complicates the peace process that will take place in the future, as the RSF continuously seeks to gain diplomatic legitimacy and access to advanced weaponry.
Featured image courtesy of ABC News (2023).
