Sudan Protection Analysis Update

Sudan is experiencing one of the most acute and complex humanitarian crises globally. Now in its third year, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has entrenched frontlines across Darfur, Khartoum, Kordofan, and Al Jazirah, with recurrent flare-ups in Blue Nile and the Red Sea states. Mediation attempts have failed, and both parties continue to employ tactics that systematically harm civilians and violate International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL).

The crisis is characterised by overlapping drivers: armed violence, mass displacement, economic collapse, weakened institutions, disease outbreaks, and worsening climate shocks. Sudan now faces the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, with over 10 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 2.6 million refugees in neighbouring countries. Many families have been displaced multiple times due to sieges, renewed fighting, and insecurity in IDP sites. Humanitarian access is among the most restricted globally, with 198 access denials recorded in the first half of 2025, coupled with widespread looting, militarisation of aid, and obstruction of relief convoys (OCHA, July 2025).The Protection Cluster analysis estimates that 43.8 million people are exposed to protection risks, 9.5M IDPs, 32M non displaced people, 1.5M returnees and 820k refugees. Against this backdrop, the protection environment has worsened sharply. Civilians are trapped in front-line fighting, exposed to explosive weapons in populated areas, and forced into repeated displacement as infrastructure is destroyed. Prolonged sieges and aid obstruction have created extreme deprivation, driving families into harmful coping strategies. Women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, and minority communities face heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and exclusion. With institutions incapacitated, accountability absent, and humanitarian access obstructed, violations remain systematic and largely unpunished, leaving millions without meaningful protection.

The protection risks requiring immediate attention in the period covered by this analysis are:

1. Attacks on civilians and other unlawful killings, and attacks on civilian objects
2. Discrimination, stigmatisation, and denial of resources, opportunities, services, and/or humanitarian access
3. Gender-based violence
4. Presence of mines and other explosive ordnance
5. Recruitment and use of children within armed forces and groups