Sudan's civil war entered its fourth year on Wednesday, April 15, marking three years since fighting erupted in the capital Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — a paramilitary group that was once the military's ally. What began as a power struggle in April 2023 has since become what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with no ceasefire in sight and international attention increasingly diverted elsewhere.
The scale of suffering is staggering. More than 11 million people have been displaced, roughly 29 million — over 60 percent of Sudan's population — face acute food insecurity, and death toll estimates range from 150,000 to as many as 400,000. Average incomes have collapsed to levels last seen in 1992, and extreme poverty rates now exceed those of the 1980s. Nearly seven million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2023 alone, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In the western region of Darfur, which has borne some of the worst violence, the RSF's siege and eventual takeover of el-Fasher — the last major city in the region not under paramilitary control — produced scenes of mass civilian death, famine and displacement. Witnesses described dead children in the streets and people too weak from hunger to carry their own children. A near-total communications blackout in the city meant that most of the world never fully learned what happened there.
Families who fled have faced repeated displacement. A survey of 1,293 displaced households across Sudan, Chad and South Sudan, conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council, found that 90 percent had lost their homes, nearly three-quarters had no income, and more than 80 percent regularly skipped meals. By the fourth forced relocation, nearly two-thirds of people reported complete exhaustion. Chad, which has a long history of hosting Sudanese refugees, is now sheltering more than 1.3 million people who have arrived since April 2023 — over 90 percent of them women and children. Only 45 percent of displaced children across the three countries have regular access to education, and nearly one in five households has been forced to send children to work.
To mark the anniversary, Germany co-hosted an international ministerial conference in Berlin alongside the African Union, European Union, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, focusing on humanitarian aid and civilian perspectives rather than peace negotiations. Notably, neither the SAF nor the RSF were invited. The conference highlighted a severe funding gap: in 2025, only 40 percent of the humanitarian aid plan for Sudan was covered, leaving a shortfall of roughly €2.2 billion. Budget cuts among donor nations, including Germany itself, have deepened the crisis. Diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire, led primarily by the United States, have stalled, complicated by regional powers — including the United Arab Emirates — that have been accused of backing opposing sides.
Aid workers and analysts warn that the informal solidarity networks that have sustained millions of Sudanese — neighbours sharing food, community members supporting new arrivals — are now at their limit. Officials and advocacy groups describe Sudan as an