The non-governmental organization (NGO) World Vision warned today that hunger and sexual violence have reached unprecedented levels in Sudan, with an estimated 65% of women having been victims of sexual abuse.

The alert was issued at a time when 500 days have passed since the start of the conflict in the African country.

On the report "Unprecedented: The crisis of children and families in Sudan”, World Vision highlighted that, while the world's attention is focused elsewhere, the situation in that African country has turned into a humanitarian crisis of 'epic proportions', with 26 million people at risk of famine, figures that represent more than half of Sudan's population.

And of these people, one million are expected to face potentially fatal famine conditions between October and December 2024, the report says.

"Children are particularly affected by high rates of food insecurity, and this is World Vision's biggest concern in Sudan at the moment."

“Across the country, four million children under the age of five are expected to go hungry by the end of 2024 and 730.000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition (…), the time to act is now.”

John Makoni, the NGO's national director in the country, said, clearly concerned.

The NGO also drew attention to the millions of children and young people who will suffer from severe mental disorders due to the consequences of the conflict. A problem whose long-term impact will affect an entire generation of Sudanese people.

“An estimated 40% of people with serious mental illness suffer from food insecurity.”

“Even after peace is restored, the people of Sudan will urgently need psychosocial support.”

Phiona Koyiet, mental health advisor at World Vision, concluded.

The World Vision report also reveals that millions of women and girls find themselves in an even more aggravated security situation as victims of sexual violence, often used as a weapon of war in these crises.

The presence of armed actors, displacement and the weakening of protection networks transform “the bodies of women and girls on battlefields".

Koyiet further states that communities are more likely to resort to specific forms of sexual violence, such as exploitation or child marriage, to cope with insecurity and increased needs.

“The significant lack of international support is unacceptable.”

“The global neglect of Sudan is a serious lack of international solidarity and vision.”

“The situation in the country and the resulting refugee flows threaten to overwhelm the entire East African region,” Makoni warned.

The war in Sudan began on April 15, 2023, due to strong disagreements over the process of integrating the Rapid Reaction Forces (RSF), paramilitary, now declared a terrorist organization, into the Armed Forces, a situation that led to the definitive collapse of the transition process initiated in 2019, after the fall of the Omar Hassan al-Bashir regime.