Darfur: Healthcare needs outstrip resources as Security Council extends Sudan sanctions

The agency’s top official in Sudan, Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, visited hospitals, health centres and laboratories in every Darfur state except East Darfur during a 10-day mission in September.

“I have witnessed the immense scale of health and humanitarian needs in Tawila and other parts of Darfur,” he said, praising health workers who keep serving their communities despite insecurity and shortages of funding and supplies.

Hunger and dwindling medicines

Malnutrition was a major concern in the facilities he visited, and WHO expects it to worsen as poor rainfall, crop failures and a strong El Niño deepen food insecurity. 

Mental health services are severely limited, while stocks of medicines for HIV, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases are running dangerously low.

Darfur hosts 65 per cent of Sudan’s 8.6 million displaced people, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Meanwhile, a humanitarian appeal needs a funding boost to match needs. WHO says it is ready to scale up in Darfur, Kordofan and other conflict-affected areas, but only 23 per cent of its $97.7 million humanitarian appeal for 2026 has been funded. It also stressed the need for safe, sustained and unimpeded access.

Sanctions rolled over

On Thursday, the Security Council unanimously renewed its Sudan sanctions regime for two months until 11 December. The regime comprises targeted sanctions and an arms embargo. The mandate of the panel of experts that monitors them now runs to 11 January 2027.

The text, drafted by the United States, is what diplomats call a “technical rollover” – a short renewal that leaves the mandate unchanged. It follows a one-month rollover adopted on 11 September.

From Darfur to the whole country

The regime is rooted in the Darfur conflict of 2004, when the council moved to stem the flow of weapons into the region.

Washington had wanted to extend the embargo to the whole of Sudan and all parties to the current war as well as to tackle drones and dual-use technology, according to news reports.

On Thursday, that effort failed to win consensus, with around half of the council’s membership reportedly preferring a one-year renewal confined to Darfur.

War and diplomacy

Meanwhile, the war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues to take a heavy toll on civilians and aid operations. 

On 3 October, an aerial attack on two trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in South Kordofan killed a driver.

Diplomatic efforts remain stuck on a US-backed 90-day ceasefire proposal that the army has resisted, according to news reports.

Independent Human Rights Council-appointed investigators have warned that outside support is sustaining the military capabilities of both sides.