Famine declared in El Fasher, Kadugli as UN reports summary executions

November 4, 2025 (GENEVA) – United Nations agencies on Tuesday confirmed that famine has been declared in El Fasher and Kadugli, warning of a “catastrophic” situation compounded by widespread violence against civilians, including summary executions and sexual violence, following the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) takeover of El Fasher last week.

At a UN briefing in Geneva, officials reported that El Fasher remains barricaded, trapping civilians, while the humanitarian response across the nation is collapsing due to a severe lack of funding.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the UN Information Service (UNIS), said the UN Resident Coordinator in Sudan, Denise Brown, continues to warn about the violence. “The United Nations continued to receive credible reports of summary executions and sexual violence,” Vellucci stated, adding that civilians were unable to leave the city.

Since October 26, some 71,000 people have managed to flee El Fasher and its surrounding areas, mainly heading towards camps that are already overcrowded. “Many new arrivals had reported witnessing or facing killings, abductions and sexual violence along the way,” Vellucci said.

The official confirmation of famine amplified the dire warnings. Christian Lindmeier of the World Health Organization (WHO) said an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimate released Monday confirmed famine (IPC Phase 5) in El Fasher and Kadugli. The report, analyzing data from September, warned that 20 more areas in greater Darfur are at risk of famine.

According to the report, 21.2 million people (45 per cent of the population) faced high levels of acute food insecurity in September. This included 6.3 million people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency) and 375,000 in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe).

Ricardo Pires of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) described Sudan as the “world’s largest food crisis.”

“More than 3.2 million children under the age of five in Sudan were estimated to suffer from acute malnutrition, and over 772,000 children had severe acute malnutrition, which required immediate treatment to prevent death,” Pires said. He noted “horrible images coming out of Darfur” and reports of violations of international humanitarian law that would be investigated.

Aid workers themselves are being targeted. Tommaso Della Longa of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) described the situation as catastrophic and called for protection for civilians and humanitarians.

He reported that five Sudanese Red Cresent colleagues were killed on October 27 during a food distribution in Bara, North Kordofan. Three others went missing in the attack; one was found, but two remain missing.

A lack of funds hampers the ability of agencies to respond. Vellucci highlighted that the 2025 humanitarian response plan for Sudan, which requires $4.16 billion, is only 28 per cent funded, having received just $1.17 billion.

“The United Nations and partners could not deliver the scale of support needed without financial support,” she said.