Civilian protection needs and responses in Sudan

Civilian protection needs are escalating rapidly across Sudan. The recent escalation of fighting between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) across Khartoum, Merowe, Darfur and other areas of the country has introduced new and rapidly exacerbated existing civilian protection concerns. Civilians are being exposed not only to the impacts of active fighting including gunfire, shelling, and unexploded ordnance (UXO), but also increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), displacement, child recruitment, and intercommunal mistrust and violence. The security gap caused by the ongoing fighting has also led to a spike in criminality and looting, with hospitals and other services raided of essential medicines and other life-saving resources. The escalating violence has also meant that pre-existing protection needs are becoming less localized – where there were hotspots of concern prior to April, these are rapidly generalizing across the country and impacting ever-greater numbers of civilians.