[Images will be available on 14th April]
As catastrophic levels of hunger hit the people of Sudan, Anneliese Dodds MP and Ayamé, join leading charities, civil society and Sudanese diaspora in Downing Street this week to call for essential and urgent action.
This week marks three years since the start of the conflict in Sudan [15 April]. With the level of human suffering affecting 33.7 million people in Sudan and hunger reaching unimaginable levels, MPs, Sudanese diaspora, public figures and 12 leading aid agencies are sounding an emergency alarm and delivering a 43,191-strong petition (live update here) to demand action from the UK Government.
As ministers meet at an annual conference in Berlin to discuss Sudan action, the #KeepEyesOnSudan coalition is jointly putting pressure on the UK Government to show the leadership this crisis demands.
Anneliese Dodds MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Sudan and South Sudan said:
“This situation has gone beyond catastrophe, and the people of Sudan can’t wait any longer. The UK Government must use its position as United Nations Security Council penholder to show the leadership this crisis demands. That means acting now to protect civilians and ensure aid reaches those in desperate need.”
Eva Khair, Women4Sudan Campaign, a transnational Sudanese civil society initiative for justice and peace, said:
“Three years on, what we are hearing from colleagues and communities inside Sudan is not only of hunger, but of deliberate deprivation—where access to food, water and aid is being systematically obstructed. Women and girls are bearing the brunt, navigating starvation alongside extreme violence, yet still holding families and communities together against unimaginable odds.
“The Women4Sudan campaign stands in solidarity with Sudan's peoples and calls for urgent action on humanitarian access to all active groups and agencies, protection of civilians from hunger, starvation and violence and a swift end to this very much man-made catastrophe.”
Children in Sudan are experiencing a severe malnutrition crisis. 4.2 million cases of acute malnutrition are expected in 2026 in Sudan, including more than 800,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition, so time is running out, the group warns. The crisis is deepening catastrophic hunger conditions, putting millions of children under five at risk of the deadliest levels of hunger. (UN)
Women and girls are also highlighted as bearing the brunt of the hunger crisis - with 75% of women-led households facing extreme hunger, and women and girls often eating last and least. Unimaginable levels of gender-based violence also mean that activities such as fetching water or standing in food lines, carries heighten risks of gender-based violence. (UN)
Abdiladif Mohamed, Country Director, Save the Children Sudan, said:
“For three years, children in Sudan have endured the unimaginable — and they need more than empathy. They need action. They deserve protection, access to healthcare and nutrition, and the chance to learn again. We urge the international community to stand with them, to demand safe humanitarian access and invest in the essential services that keep children alive, learning, and hopeful.”
The petition ‘Sudan can't wait: UK government must step up for Sudan’ demands the UK Government urgently step up its action on Sudan and uses all its diplomatic, political, and economic influence to push for a ceasefire, protect civilians, secure safe and sustained humanitarian access, and urgently increase life-saving funding, before even more lives are lost.
Entisr*, 27 year-old, fled her village in Sudan when it was attacked and her home burnt down. She now lives in temporary refugee camp on the Sudan-Chad border – described as ‘a maze of tarpaulin, straw roofs and plastic sheeting held together with rope and desperation’. By the time Entisr reached the border, where World Vision provides emergency health support and emergency survival kits to new arrivals, she had lost everything five times over.
“The last violence makes me shake until now,” says Entisr. This time, she wasn’t with her parents and her husband was gone. Entisr survived sexual violence that sought to strip her of dignity. “At the start, I fought,” she said. “They cut my clothes. They beat me until my baby fell.” The pain of this traumatic event remains. At night and in solitude, the lingering wounds bring unbidden tears: “Sometimes when I think of that, I cry a lot.” Through support by World Vision, Entisr has become a leader in the settlement, organising weekly meetings for women who have survived similar violence. [Photos: https://storyhub.wvi.org/Share/5q0d7412516365i46adc56pn1s3dk34e]
Rashida, a 25-year-old mother, left their home destroyed after months of bombardment, and with her children endured an unimaginable journey without basic food and hygiene provisions.
“My children were barefoot as everything we owned burnt. We walked day and night, and the war followed us. We slept under trees without mats, I just swept away whatever dirt I could with my hands.”
It took the family 14 days to reach safety at a CARE International health facility in Yida, South Sudan, where they could be treated for malnutrition, vaccination, and screened for other diseases before being transported to a refugee camp.
The delegation handing in the petition includes Anneliese Dodds MP, Ayamé (content creator, presenter and podcast host), Eva Khair, (Women 4 Sudan) Tasneem Farah, (London for Sudan), and Abdullah Abugerda (Darfur Diaspora Association).
This action has been organised by the #KeepEyesOnSudan coalition which comprises 12 leading aid agencies (Action Against Hunger, Age International, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief UK, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund, Oxfam, World Vision
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Notes to editors:
Who we are: The KeepEyesOnSudan coalition, a group of leading UK charities including Action Against Hunger, Age International, CARE International UK, CAFOD, Christian Aid, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief UK, Plan International UK, Save the Children UK, Tearfund, Oxfam and World Vision, are calling on the UK Government to take concrete action to end suffering in Sudan.
Among the recommendations, the coalition is calling on the government to scale-up its diplomatic efforts; protect civilians; secure rapid, safe, sustained humanitarian access across Sudan; increase funding; and support a regional response to this crisis.
This action is also supported by Sudanese civil rights and diaspora organisations; Women 4 Sudan, London for Sudan and the Darfur Diaspora Association.
UK Press Office details
For further information:
Sam Bishop: World Vision UK PR & Communication Manager
sam.bishop@worldvision.org.uk
07942 101023
Karen Garvin: #KeepEyesOnSudan Coalition Lead
07971 576917
