“Just over a month ago, Sudan reached a horrific milestone: 1,000 days of a brutal war that has nearly destroyed the third largest country in Africa,” Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs said.  

It has been “1,000 days of staggering violence and unimaginable suffering” and “1,000 days of total impunity for the perpetrators of a long list of atrocities and war crimes.”

As the conflict approaches its third anniversary in April, fighting continues to spread. Ms. DiCarlo said front lines have fluctuated in North Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, with drone attacks and aerial strikes by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) becoming “a defining feature of this conflict.”

Severe consequences for civilians

“The consequences for civilians and civilian infrastructure are severe. No corner of Sudan is safe from the threat of attack,” Ms. DiCarlo warned.

In North Kordofan, the state capital El Obeid is besieged from three sides by the RSF, while the SAF have sought to reassert their presence in and around the city. “Ground fighting inside El Obeid would have catastrophic consequences and deal a significant blow to the prospects for a ceasefire,” she said.

South Kordofan has also seen intensified fighting around Kadugli and Dilling. Although recent announcements suggested sieges there had been broken, humanitarian access remains uncertain.

Humanitarian crisis relentless

Edem Wosornu, Director of the Crisis Response Division at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the situation in much of Kordofan and Darfur has deteriorated since the start of the year.

“In recent weeks, we have seen an alarming escalation of drone attacks across the three Kordofan states, leading to more civilian deaths and injuries and forcing families to flee their homes,” she said. Over one million people are now displaced in the region alone.

Food insecurity is deepening. UN-backed food security analysis indicates that famine conditions “may be prevalent” in Kadugli and Dilling. In North Darfur, acute malnutrition rates in Um Baru and Kernoi localities exceeded famine thresholds in December.

Toll on aid workers

The toll on relief workers is mounting. Since the conflict began on 15 April 2023, some 130 humanitarian workers – nearly all Sudanese – have been killed.

“Aid workers and humanitarian assets must never be targets,” Ms. Wosornu stressed, noting that four incidents in 10 days recently left humanitarian personnel killed or injured while delivering food.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that in one week this month, three health facilities were attacked in South Kordofan, killing 31 people, including children and health workers.

Violence against women and girls has reached “catastrophic levels,” Ms. Wosornu said. Demand for prevention and response services has surged by 350 per cent since the war began, and documented cases of sexual violence have nearly tripled.

In Darfur, thousands of people have fled fighting to seek refuge in Tawila.

‘Indicators of a genocidal path’

The briefing came hours after a UN human rights fact-finding mechanism warned that atrocities committed by the RSF in El Fasher in October 2025 were “indicators of a genocidal path,” raising fears of similar patterns elsewhere.

Ms. DiCarlo said the events there were preventable. While the city was under siege for more than a year, UN officials “repeatedly sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities. But the warnings were not heeded.”

High Commissioner Volker Türk has now warned of the possibility of similar crimes in Kordofan, where civilians face risks of summary executions, sexual violence, arbitrary detention and family separation.

Need for international resolve

Concluding her briefing, Ms. DiCarlo urged stronger international resolve.

“Unified messaging and strong action by the Security Council is more important than ever,” she said. “Pressure must be brought on the parties and those who back them to end the war now.”

Ms. Wosornu echoed that appeal, calling on Council members to use their influence to protect civilians, ensure humanitarian access and “work together in pursuit of an immediate stop to the fighting, to stem the flow of weapons into Sudan, and to press for the lasting, inclusive peace that the people of Sudan so desperately need.”

About 60 per cent of the population – some 1.2 million people – is already acutely food insecure, according to WFP.

Food assistance is being transported along river routes, but rising insecurity is hampering humanitarian operations and threatening to drive hunger to unprecedented levels.

WFP teams are registering newly displaced families in Canal Pigi and other northern areas of Jonglei to receive urgently needed aid, in some cases for the first time since fighting began.

The agency aims to reach more than half a million people facing catastrophic food insecurity. However, it urgently requires $341 million to support 4.2 million people across South Sudan this year.

Adham Effendi, WFP’s acting country director, described the operation as a crucial step in assisting communities “caught in the crossfire,” noting that many had already lost homes and livelihoods to flooding before being forced to flee again.

In New York, UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric highlighted the dangerous conditions faced by aid workers in South Sudan.

He reported that a private contractor working with WFP on humanitarian airdrop coordination was killed earlier this week by an unknown gunman in Upper Nile state. The incident is under investigation.

Mr. Dujarric expressed condolences to the victim’s family and colleagues and stressed that humanitarian workers must never be targeted.

The United Nations continues to “call on all parties to de-escalate violence, ensure safe, rapid, and unimpeded access to all people in need and resolve all issues through dialogue.”

Relief arrives in Gaza, yet restrictions keep assistance far below needs

As of Monday, humanitarians have reached some 670,000 people in Gaza with the monthly general food assistance for February. 

Nonetheless, the ration size remains reduced at 50 per cent, as the current stocks in the Gaza Strip are insufficient to sustain larger rations for the rest of the month.

“Humanitarian partners report that impediments persist, and in recent weeks, the entry of humanitarian supplies from Egypt has remained critically low due to high rejection rates by Israeli authorities,” said UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. 

Impediments must be lifted 

As of mid-February, more than 20 UN partners produced and distributed over 1.7 million meals every day through 180 kitchens, accounting for around half a million meals in the north and 1.3 million in the south. 

“UN partners are aligning the timing of cooked meal preparations, and distributions, with Ramadan fasting hours. They have also added additional fresh produce and protein products,” he said. 

UN agencies are on the ground providing tents, tarpaulins, sealing off kits, clothes, and other essential items to over 11,500 households in North Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates. 

Mr. Dujarric said the UN and partners “reiterate that impediments must be urgently lifted so that we can do more to meet the massive humanitarian needs in Gaza”.

UN child rights envoy concludes first official visit to Syria 

The UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Vanessa Frazier, ended a three-day visit to Syria on Thursday – her first official mission to the country since being appointed in October.

Ms. Frazier with Government representatives, UN partners, diplomats, as well as parents and children who have grown up throughout conflict spanning over a decade. 

She aimed to discuss new opportunities for collaboration with the new Government of Syria to strengthen the protection of children and engage in areas in which the UN may offer further support.

She also praised the government’s determination to turn the page and build a new Syria with children at its heart. 

Challenges remain

Challenges persist, especially concerning children — or their parents — who are allegedly linked to armed groups, particularly in the country’s northeast, the USG noted. 

She recalled that children should not be detained but be treated as victims and handed over to child protection actors. 

On top of that, the Ms. Frazier warned that unexploded ordnance and mines remained an immense challenge for Syria – hindering safe access to schools, hospitals and playgrounds for children  

“The children of Syria have suffered enough from the consequences of armed conflict,” she said.

“They deserve a future shaped by peace, stability, and opportunity — a future where classrooms replace conflict, dreams replace fear, and their voices help rebuild a nation rich in history and resilience.” 

Listen to an interview with Vanessa Frazier, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.