Statement on Economic Deterioration and the Worsening Suffering of the Sudanese People, and Women in Particular
We, Sudanese women—whether inside the country or in countries of displacement, asylum, or exile—are directly experiencing the effects of war and the deterioration of economic and living conditions. Together with our families and communities, we bear the burdens of poverty, hunger, displacement, loss of income, and the decline of basic services. Women’s suffering is increasing day by day, both inside and outside Sudan, as the war continues and its effects on the lives of Sudanese men and women widen.
Approximately 11 million women and girls faced severe food insecurity in 2025, while 73 percent of women do not have access to the minimum level of dietary diversity. Furthermore, female-headed households face a risk of severe food insecurity three times higher than that of male-headed households; 75 percent of these households are unable to meet their basic food needs, while only 1.9 percent of female-headed households are food secure.
The crisis is not limited to food and income but extends to displacement, protection, and health. The number of internally displaced persons has exceeded 9 million, with women and children constituting the majority of those in displacement camps, while approximately 12.7 million people face the risk of gender-based violence, the majority of whom are women and girls.
In addition, 7.3 million women of reproductive age and 1.1 million pregnant women require reproductive health services, while only 27 percent of the 285 health facilities assessed are fully functional in providing clinical management of rape.
In July 2026, prevention and response services for gender-based violence reached more than 90,000 people, 96 percent of whom were women and girls. In addition, 6,762 women received childbirth services assisted by skilled health personnel, and there were 14,335 prenatal care visits and 4,018 postnatal care visits.
Women in rural areas bear an additional burden because many families rely on agriculture, irrigation, and related economic activities. The war has made access to land, water sources, and markets even more difficult, threatening livelihoods and food security. Therefore, ending the war is essential to providing protection, enabling women to engage in economic activities, and restoring their livelihoods.
In light of these circumstances, the Sudanese Women’s Network emphasizes the need to protect purchasing power, ensure the availability of food, medicine, and water at affordable prices, and curb monopolies and exploitation.
It also stresses the need to expand cash and food assistance programs and social protection, giving priority to female-headed households, displaced women, pregnant and breastfeeding women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and families with children and care needs.
The Network calls for ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches its recipients safely and regularly, without being used as a means of pressure or punishment.
It also calls for supporting women economically by providing capital, financing, markets, assets, training, and decent job opportunities, as well as supporting income-generating projects and activities.
It emphasizes the need to alleviate the burden of unpaid domestic and care work by providing access to water, health care, education, childcare, and community services.
The network calls for ensuring access to reproductive health services, maternal care, psychological support, and services for protection and response to ongoing violence.
The Network calls for ensuring reproductive health services, maternal care, psychological support, protection services, and responses to gender-based violence, as well as guaranteeing survivors’ access to safe and comprehensive services.
It also emphasizes the need to ensure the effective participation of women and local women’s organizations in the design, implementation, and monitoring of the humanitarian response, as well as recovery and reconstruction policies.
It calls for the provision of direct, flexible, and sustainable funding to women’s organizations working within communities and reaching the most vulnerable groups.
The Sudanese Women’s Network affirms that women are not merely recipients of aid, but rather producers, farmers, business owners, workers, caregivers, and active agents in humanitarian work and peacebuilding.
Protecting women and supporting their economic empowerment is a direct investment in societal resilience, food security, and economic recovery.
This cannot be achieved sustainably without ending the war, restoring security, creating conditions for the return of economic activity, services, and normal life, and building a just and sustainable peace.
Protecting women means protecting the economy and society.
