UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on situation in Sudan

“I cannot overstate the seriousness of the situation in Sudan; the desperate plight of the Sudanese people; and the urgency with which we must act to ease their suffering,” the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Speaking when he presented his annual report on the situation in Sudan, the UN Human Rights Chief said, “Since the armed conflict began in April 2023 the devastating human rights crisis that has ensued has generated the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.”

“More than six hundred thousand people are on the brink of starvation. Famine is reported to have taken hold in five areas, including Zamzam displacement camp in North Darfur, where the World Food Programme has just been forced to suspend its lifesaving operations due to intense fighting. Five more areas could face famine in the next three months, and a further 17 are at risk” he said.

Adding, “This is the biggest displacement crisis in the world.”

The report details horrific scope of violations and abuses committed in Sudan up to late last year and underscores the need for accountability. It says the parties to the conflict committed acts, some of which may constitute war crimes and other atrocity crimes.

“We are looking into the abyss. Humanitarian agencies warn that without action to end the war, deliver emergency aid, and get agriculture back on its feet, hundreds of thousands of people could die,” Türk warned.

“This horrific situation is the result of grave and flagrant violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, and a culture of utter impunity,” he said.

“As the fighting has spread across the country, appalling levels of sexual violence have followed. More than half of reported rape incidents took the form of gang rape – an indication that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” he said.

“Sudan is a powder keg, on the verge of a further explosion into chaos, and at increasing risk of atrocity crimes and mass deaths from famine. We need urgent action now, to find a path to peace,” said the UN’s top human rights official.

For more information and media requests, please contact

Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org

Jeremy Laurence + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Seif Magango +41 79 752 0488/ seif.magango@un.org

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