The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia captured the capital of North Darfur state, El Fasher, in late October after more than 500 days of siege, amid reports of widespread atrocities, including summary executions and sexual violence.
Fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF when a transition to civilian rule, stemming from the overthrow of former ruler Omar al-Bashir four years earlier, broke down. The intense fighting that followed has devastated communities, displaced millions and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Ms. Mutavati said the situation is worsening dramatically as fighting spreads across the city, causing mass displacement. Thousands of women and girls have fled to other towns in northern Darfur, including Tawila, located about 70 kilometers away, Korma and Malit, where the humanitarian presence is “very weak.”
On Monday, the U.N. aid coordination office, OCHA, said nearly 89,000 people have fled the area, some seeking refuge near the Sudan-Chad border.
“What the women tell us is that on their horrible journey… every step they have taken to fetch water, collect firewood or stand in line for food has carried a high risk of sexual violence,” the UN Women representative said. “There is increasing evidence that rape is deliberately and systematically used as a weapon of war.”
No place is safe
Warning that women’s bodies “have just become a crime scene in Sudan”, Ms Mutavati insisted that “there are no safe spaces left” where women can find protection or access basic psychosocial care.
“Basic dignity has also collapsed,” the UN Women official insisted, explaining that in North Darfur a single package of sanitary pads costs around $27, while cash humanitarian assistance amounts to just under $150 a month for a family of six, on average.
Ms. Mutavati spoke of “impossible decisions” that must be made by families “forced to choose between food, medicine and dignity.”
“The essential needs of women and girls are at the bottom of that list,” she said.
Ms. Mutavati also said that in Sudan, as in other crises, “women and girls eat the least and are the last to eat.”
“Most women and girls may not eat anything in Sudan…Women often skip meals so their children can eat, while adolescent girls often receive the smallest portion, which undermines their long-term nutrition and health,” she said.
“In remote, besieged areas like Darfur or Kordofan, women and girls are often the ones scavenging to survive,” Mutavati added, citing reports of women “foraging for wild leaves and berries to boil into soup” while facing additional risks of violence.
hunger takes over
In early November, the latest food security analysis from the UN-backed CPI confirmed famine conditions in El Fasher and the South Kordofan state capital, Kadugli.
Ms Mutavati also said health workers are reporting an increase in cases of severe acute malnutrition in infants, often linked to the reduced breastfeeding capacity of their hungry mothers.
“There is a domino effect of hunger that women are experiencing,” she warned.
Calling for an end to violence, broader humanitarian access and greater support for women-led soup kitchens and other aid providers, Ms. Mutavati highlighted that women and girls in Sudan “are the measure of our shared humanity.”
“Every day that the world delays acting on Sudan, another woman gives birth under fire or buries her child in hunger, or disappears without justice,” he concluded.