All trade routes and supply lines have been cut, and humanitarian organisations have been unable to deliver vital aid for more than a year. Even community kitchens, which have been a mainstay of the humanitarian response feeding civilians across the country, have had to close due to severe food shortages. The price of basic commodities continues to rise, leaving many families unable to afford even essential items when they are available. This crisis has caused people to starve: famine was confirmed in August 2024 in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps near El Fasher, which has since spread and is expected to worsen during the current lean season. The situation is worsened by an increase in cholera cases, which exacerbates the devastating effects of malnutrition. More than 60 people are reported to have died from malnutrition in the last week alone.
Civilians in North Darfur, especially women and girls, have been exposed to egregious violations, including alarming rates of conflict-related sexual violence, since the start of hostilities in April 2023. Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including markets and hospitals, have left the population without access to medical care. Recent reports shed light on massive and repeated violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by the Rapid Reaction Forces in the Zamzam IDP camp in April 2025, where it is estimated that more than 1500 civilians were killed. In El Fasher, civilians are reportedly being killed as they try to leave the city. The recent attack on the Abu Shouk IDP camp caused at least 40 civilian casualties, according to local sources. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor stated in July 2025 that there are reasonable grounds to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Darfur.
Famine-like conditions and atrocious attacks continue in other regions of Sudan, especially in Kordofan, due to brutal hostilities in the states and the persistent siege of Kadugli.
This cannot go on.
All parties to the conflict are responsible for the protection of civilians in Darfur and Kordofan. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) made clear commitments in the Jeddah Declaration (May 2023) to respect international humanitarian law and fundamental human rights principles. We urge all parties to demonstrate their compliance with this commitment by ensuring immediate, unconditional, safe, secure and unimpeded humanitarian access to populations in need, as well as protecting civilians - especially women and children - and safeguarding both humanitarian personnel and civilian infrastructure at all times.
To this end, we specifically call on the RSF and its allies to stop the siege of El Fasher, as called for in UN Security Council Resolution 2736 (2024). We urge the RSF to grant a humanitarian pause for rapid, safe and unconditional humanitarian access to people in need and a safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities voluntarily, in the direction of their choice.
Furthermore, we urge the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to renew their commitment to this humanitarian pause in El Fasher and to grant the necessary approvals to facilitate the work of humanitarian organisations.
We reaffirm our call on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to keep the Adré border crossing point permanently open for humanitarian actors, remove bureaucratic impediments and ensure the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance and essential goods throughout the country.
We call on all parties to urgently allow UN-led convoys and a sustained UN presence, including high-level international staff, throughout Sudan, especially in Darfur and Kordofan, to facilitate the rapid scale-up of humanitarian assistance to the population in need.
We stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan and the local and international humanitarian organisations who are working tirelessly and under extremely challenging conditions to deliver aid. It is imperative to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access and accountability.
This declaration has been signed by:
Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management
Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain
Åsmund Aukrust, Norwegian Minister for International Development
Lord Collins of Highbury, UK Minister for African Affairs
Gabija Grigaitė-Daugirdė, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania
Randeep Sarai, Minister for State (International Development), Canada
Elsebeth Søndergaard Krone, State Secretary for Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
Diana Janse, State Secretary for International Development Cooperation of Sweden
Mariin Ratnik, Under-Secretary for Economic and Development Affairs of Estonia
Dominik Stillhart, Head of Humanitarian Aid Switzerland and Deputy Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czechia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Finland, the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Non official translation
Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation