Sudan on brink of collapse after a year of war

Fire at a livestock market in Darfur, Sudan

A total of 9 million people have fled their homes, seeking safety

(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

A year after war broke out in Sudan, aid agencies warned Monday that the country is on the edge of total collapse. The United Nations says Sudan is experiencing "one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory" and "the largest internal displacement crisis in the world," with 9 million people having fled their homes, seeking safety.

Who said what

With attention focused on the Middle East crisis, "the world is forgetting about the people of Sudan" and their "dramatic life-and-death emergencies," U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday. Some 18 million people face "acute hunger" and tens of thousands have been killed.

The commentary

At the start of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), "optimists hoped that the two sides would grind themselves to a stalemate" and negotiate a power-sharing deal, The Economist said. Instead, the battle has "metastasized into a nationwide conflagration so vast and anarchic it could yet destabilize several of Sudan's neighbors." Fighting in Sudan is "on an uptick and most concerning is that it is spreading into new areas," Cameron Hudson at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said to Semafor.

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What next?

International donors pledged more than $2.1 billion for humanitarian aid to Sudan at a Paris conference, France said Monday. The U.N. needs at least $2.7 billion for Sudan this year.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.