Khartoum, 06 August, 2025 / 8:11 PM
In its third year, the Sudan civil war has had far-reaching effects on the people of God in the Northeastern African nation with humanitarian assistance hampered, the Executive Director of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) has said.
In an interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the 20th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) held in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, Christine Allen decried poor media visibility of what she said is the “world’s biggest humanitarian crisis”.
“The war in Sudan has had a devastating impact” on people, the Executive Director of the aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales said, and recalling her conversation with Archbishop Michael Didi of the Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, Sudan’s only Metropolitan See, added that the situation is dire with efforts of humanitarian agencies to reach out to the needy people hampered.
Amid escalation of the situation in the country following the civil war that broke out on 15 April 2023, CAFOD cannot provide full support because its facilities in Khartoum were ransacked “everything was taken,” Christine said, adding, “We had to evacuate our staff. We're not able to operate in Khartoum itself, but we're able to support people in other parts of the country.”
The numbers of those affected and displaced by the war “are staggering ... It is the world's biggest humanitarian crisis,” she said, and added, “25 million people are reliant upon food aid. It is staggering.”
Sudan’s civil war broke out on 15 April 2023. The violent conflict is between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary force under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and army units of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) that are loyal to the head of Sudan's transitional governing Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
It started in Sudan’s capital city, Khartoum, before becoming a full-fledged civil war in the entire Northeastern African nation. It has reportedly resulted in the death of “as many as one hundred and fifty thousand people”; well over 14 million people have been displaced, including to unstable countries such as Chad, Ethiopia, and South Sudan, where they have reportedly overrun refugee camps.
With some 30.4 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Sudan, reportedly more than half of country’s population, Sudan has arguably the highest number of people in need ever recorded; the highest number of internally displaced globally, more than 12 million having fled violence in the country in the last two years.
Sudan has also the highest number of people in emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger, “with over 600,000 people living in famine, and 8 million others on the cliff edge”, according to an April 2025 report.
In the August 2 interview, the Executive Director of CAFOD decried poor media visibility of Sudan amid untold suffering of multitudes.
“In the UK, we really struggle because trying to get coverage on the media or political interest in Sudan has just been almost impossible. And yet the numbers are staggering,” Christine said.
She added, “You always feel really bad when you're working in development, that you don't want to create a hierarchy because every crisis is its own crisis and is absolutely a tragedy.”
The conflicts in the Middle East and the war between Russia and Ukraine have remained for a long time the focus of mainstream news media, Christine lamented, and added, “Situations in Sudan are horrendous—but Sudan has been lost.”
Poor media visibility of the situation in Sudan, the Executive Director of CAFOD said, “is an illustration of Africa not being seen, Africa not being recognized as needing our solidarity and our support.”
“Sudan is the biggest humanitarian crisis that the world is ignoring,” she reiterated.
Christine went on to laud faith-based agencies including Caritas and civil society entities for remaining on the ground to provide humanitarian support in Sudan.
(Story continues below)
The Best Catholic News - straight to your inbox
Sign up for our free ACI Africa newsletter.
She lamented the lack of adequate funding, public interest, support, and political leadership, aspects she said are essential to addressing the effects of the civil war.
“The world needs to wake up and take recognition of what's going on in Sudan, especially because this is a regional conflict,” she warned, and added, “This has massive knock-on impacts right across Africa. And I think we ignore it at our peril.”
In the August 2 interview, Christine told ACI Africa that from Rwanda, she would be visiting South Sudan, where some of those fleeing the Sudan civil war have been received
“Sudan has a lot of borders. And right across the piece, it's being affected,” the Executive Director of CAFOD said, adding that countries like Kenya and Ethiopia “are taking in refugees, people who are in desperate situations and who are traumatized.”
She noted, “Nobody wants to flee ... People want to go home. They want to go back to the lives that they had before. But that is just not possible at the moment unless there's a strong, stable, and secure peace.”
Our mission is the truth. Join us!
Your monthly donation will help our team continue reporting the truth, with fairness, integrity, and fidelity to Jesus Christ and his Church.
Donate to CNA