Since the beginning of the year, 25 aid workers have been killed in Sudan, putting 2024 on track to be the deadliest year for aid workers in Sudan ever recorded. Kidnappings/abductions have also already surpassed the number recorded in 2023. Almost all the reported abductions have been perpetrated by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and Darfur.
Attacks on aid workers have tracked with the general violence affecting Sudanese civilians. According to the mid-year 2024 analysis published by ACLED, incidents of violence against civilians have already surpassed those reported in 2023, and civilian fatalities have reached nearly 9,600, demonstrating a sustained high level of conflict intensity over the past 18 months.
At the same time, there is evidence that aid workers are being deliberately targeted as well as being affected by collateral violence. For example, out of attacks where the location is recorded, the data shows a significant increase in attacks on project sites and offices.
According to recent reports local aid kitchens, which have received increasing support from accessconstrained international organisations, face increased risk from warring parties. In the past 30 days the AWSD has recorded 4 deaths of aid kitchen workers. Local humanitarian actors, like communityled kitchens, lack access to security risk management resources to prepare for and protect themselves in interactions with armed actors. Moreover, security capacities for the coordinated humanitarian response are weak overall, due to the lack of operational presence in the most severely affected regions, like Darfur and Kordofan