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Sudan women step up as frontline responders as El Fasher marks one year since siege

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Update: This follows our 24 October report on drone strikes that killed at least 306 people in Sudan in three weeks.

Sudan women have been the first to suffer in the war but are also stepping up as frontline responders, UN Women said in stories published by UN News on 24 October 2026, as survivors of the El Fasher siege mark one year since the city fell.

Sudan women: A displaced mother near her shelter in a camp in Tawila, North Darfur
A displaced mother near her shelter in a camp in Tawila, North Darfur Photo: UNICEF/Mohammed Jamal via UN News (editorial use with credit).

How Sudan women became responders in Khartoum

The war broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), former allies who had jointly seized power in a 2021 coup. UN News told the story of Tahani Al-Numeiri, a journalist and activist trapped with her family in besieged Khartoum. She said they had only boiled wheat to eat and burned furniture for warmth, and that she fell critically ill from malnutrition, dirty water and lack of care. After government troops retook Khartoum in March 2025 and she recovered, she volunteered at a communal kitchen and posted videos about conditions that went viral. “I feel like I am a warrior on the frontlines,” she said.

Key Facts

  • War began: 15 April 2023 (SAF vs RSF)
  • El Fasher besieged by RSF: October 2025
  • UN Women survey: 9 in 10 aid groups found women or girls without support after fleeing El Fasher
  • Drone attacks rising in: Blue Nile, Khartoum, West Kordofan, Gedaref, Kassala
  • At least 306 killed by drone strikes in first three weeks of October (OHCHR)

“The scars of the violence in El Fasher have not faded.”

— Anna Mutavati, UN Women regional director

El Fasher: one year of fear for women

In El Fasher, besieged by the RSF in October 2025, the head of a women-led, UN-supported group that gives meals and money to women in North Darfur stayed to help. She told UN News that women “were the first to suffer”, and said women-led groups are best placed to serve them but often lose funding to groups led by men. UN Women said nine in ten Sudanese aid organisations it surveyed had found women or girls in distress who had received no mental health, psychosocial or legal support since fleeing El Fasher. Regional director Anna Mutavati told reporters in Geneva that “the scars of the violence in El Fasher have not faded” and that drone attacks are increasing in Blue Nile, Khartoum, West Kordofan, Gedaref and Kassala.

Returning home to looted houses

Thousands of women are now returning to Khartoum after years of displacement in Sudan and neighbouring countries, UN News said, but many come back to homes stripped of everything, even doors and windows. Israa Hamid Khalil, a psychological support officer at the UN Women-supported East Nile Women’s Empowerment Centre, said women “came back with nothing in their hands”. The centre offers counselling, training and livelihood support so they can earn an income. UN human rights chief Volker Türk has condemned an escalation of drone strikes that killed at least 306 people in the first three weeks of October, and talks on a ceasefire continued in Geneva this week with nearly two dozen countries.

Why It Matters: Women-led local groups often reach families that big agencies cannot, so funding them directly can save lives in Sudan.

Also on TrendDesh: Sudan drone strikes killed at least 306 people in three weeks, UN rights chief says · Sudan peace talks resume in Geneva as envoy seeks de-escalation in a 'drone war'

Source: UN News, 24 Oct 2026 · UN News, World News in Brief, 23 Oct 2026 · UN Women: Sudan

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