Introduction and Background
The dire and compounding humanitarian crisis in Sudan is not gender-neutral. Widespread displacement, grave violations against civilians and ongoing conict, severe food insecurity, and the looming threat of famine, exacerbated by strained public infrastructure, have drastically limited access to essential resources for women, men, girls, and boys. Clean water, adequate food, healthcare, and shelter are increasingly scarce, placing already in need groups at even greater risk and deepening existing inequalities. Women and girls in Sudan continue to be disproportionately impacted as these scarcities exacerbate pre-existing gender inequalities, forcing them into roles and responsibilities that often increase their exposure to further hardship, negative coping mechanisms and harm.
Based on societal and cultural norms, women and girls in Sudan often shoulder an increased burden of care, responsible not only for their own children but also for extended family members.
This added caregiving role frequently relegates their own needs to last, intensifying their vulnerability to malnutrition, exhaustion, and restricted access to lifesaving services and impacting their ability to engage in decision-making fora and community level participation. Under these conditions and realities, threats of genderbased violence persist, further compounding the hardships they face as they struggle to meet their families’ needs in an environment of severe scarcity.
Despite these profound challenges since the onset of the crisis, some progress has been made to support the humanitarian response better prole and address the gendered dimensions of the crisis. Technical support to humanitarian clusters on gender equality interventions is on the rise, ensuring that gender analysis informs all aspects of the response with the establishment of the gender coordination mechanism, the National Sudan Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG).
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.