Peace Efforts Falter as World Attention Fades from Sudan’s ‘Forgotten War’

Efforts to end Sudan’s devastating civil war have repeatedly collapsed, leaving millions trapped in a humanitarian nightmare that the United Nations has described as one of the least prioritised crises in the world today.

Since fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), multiple rounds of peace talks have taken place in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. But negotiators say both sides, particularly the army, have shown little willingness to agree to or maintain a ceasefire.

The UN, African Union, and regional mediators have all struggled to bring the rival generals to the same table. Western diplomats privately admit that Sudan’s war has been overshadowed by conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, despite the fact that more people have been displaced from Sudan than from any other country in the world this year.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), told the BBC in September that global response to Sudan has been marked by indifference. “I think race is in play here,” he said. “Crises in Africa do not receive the same attention, even when the suffering is immense.”

Humanitarian agencies are warning of a deepening catastrophe. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), more than 24 million people — over half of Sudan’s population — face acute hunger, and many areas are already experiencing famine-like conditions. Aid volunteers say that nearly 80% of emergency food kitchens have been forced to shut due to insecurity and lack of funding.

The war has decimated Sudan’s infrastructure. Hospitals and schools lie in ruins, and major cities such as Khartoum, Wad Madani, and El-Fasher have been reduced to rubble. Economic collapse has followed — state revenues have shrunk by 80%, and inflation has made basic goods unaffordable for most citizens.

The International Crisis Group recently described diplomatic efforts as “lacklustre,” while Amnesty International called the global response “woefully inadequate.”

With both generals entrenched in their positions and foreign backers sustaining their war machines, hopes for peace remain slim. For Sudan’s 46 million people, the conflict is no longer just a political crisis — it has become a slow-motion collapse of a nation, largely unseen by the world.