Sudan’s war has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies. UNICEF reported that 33.7 million people needed humanitarian assistance in 2026 alone, including 17.3 million children, while more than 9.1 million people were displaced internally by June. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimated that close to 19.5 million people, almost 41% of the population, faced high levels of acute food insecurity between the months of February and May 2026. These figures make civilian protection in Sudan more than a question of preventing injury and death. Protecting hospitals, water systems, food supplies and humanitarian access can also limit disruptions to essential services and the financial pressures that can deepen poverty as the conflict continues.

How International Humanitarian Law Protects Civilians

The International Committee of the Red Cross classified the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a non-international armed conflict. A non-international armed conflict is defined as sustained fighting between state armed forces and an organized armed group or multiple non-state groups. Some of the specific laws that help to minimize harm for civilians are Common Article 3 and Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions. Customary humanitarian law also requires warring parties to distinguish civilians and civilian infrastructure from military objectives. These rules also prohibit attacks expected to cause excessive civilian harm relative to the anticipated military advantage and require precautions to minimize harm. For civilian protection in Sudan, these rules are vital because damage to civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, water systems and food markets can affect civilians even after the fighting ends.

The Economic Costs of Damaged Health Systems

Sudan’s health system shows how damage to civilian infrastructure can create economic as well as humanitarian consequences. In April 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 37% of health facilities across Sudan were nonfunctional and that it had verified 217 attacks on health care since 2023, resulting in a documented count of 2,052 deaths and 810 verified injuries. The WHO also reported that civilian patients in some conflict-affected areas have had to make long and especially dangerous journeys to reach functioning facilities. The ICRC separately notes that disruptions to essential services can often force civilians to pay out of pocket at a significant personal cost to meet their basic needs, especially when essential services fail. For households already facing displacement or loss of income, these added costs can severely deepen financial hardship.

The economic effects extend well beyond individual medical expenses paid by civilians and families. The ICRC reports that disruptions to water, health and energy systems weaken the overall local and regional economies. This affects livelihoods and increases the cost of resources and personnel needed for reconstruction and broader recovery efforts. The ICRC also notes that weapons utilized in the conflict can cause permanent and life-altering injuries to civilians that sometimes require long-term support. Protecting essential services therefore also helps to preserve the economic foundations communities need to recover.

Hunger, Displacement and Lost Livelihoods

The connection between conflict and economic hardship is especially visible in Sudan’s food crisis. The IPC estimated that almost 19.5 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity between the months of February and May of 2026. Of that total, more than 5 million people were living under Emergency (IPC Phase 4) conditions. The IPC also identified a risk of famine in 14 specific areas in Sudan, including North Darfur, South Darfur and South Kordofan. This estimate was calculated under a reasonable worst-case scenario involving intensified conflict and further restrictions on humanitarian access and freedom of movement of goods and people. An estimated 825,000 children under the age of 5 were expected to experience severe acute malnutrition in 2026 alone. Conflict can also separate families from farmland, livelihoods, livestock and other financial and employment opportunities, further reducing the resources available to sustain food and income.

International law also protects humanitarian relief and necessities essential to the survival of civilians and families. The ICRC explains that when civilians face shortages of essential supplies such as food, medicine and other life-saving goods, parties to the conflict have an obligation to consent to exclusively humanitarian and impartial relief action for civilians. The U.N. Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported in September 2025 that humanitarian assistance had been obstructed, convoys attacked or destroyed and humanitarian aid workers were specifically targeted. The report also attributed serious violations to both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and additionally documented extensive destruction of civilian medical centers, food markets and other essential facilities. These are findings of the U.N.-mandated mission, rather than assumptions about the motives of either side.  

From Legal Protection to Humanitarian Action

International Humanitarian Law alone cannot end Sudan’s devastating war, but humanitarian organizations use its protections as a framework for practical assistance. The ICRC reported that it supported an estimated 3.9 million people across the whole of Sudan in the year 2025. An additional 3.3 million were estimated to have gained improved access to safe water and more than 154,000 received emergency care at ICRC-supported hospitals. More than 310,000 received assistance during outbreaks of cholera, malaria and other diseases. These interventions do not demonstrate that poverty has fallen, but they can reduce immediate household pressures by preserving access to essential services that civilians and families might otherwise have to travel long distances, make dangerous journeys or pay significant amounts to obtain.

UNICEF reported similarly measurable assistance from January to June 2026. UNICEF and its partners provided an estimated 6.6 million people with access to safe water, supported 1.3 million people with primary health care and treated approximately 174,700 children for severe acute malnutrition. These programs do not entirely erase the economic, physical or emotional losses families may have experienced, but they demonstrate how civilian protection in Sudan can translate into concrete support that preserves health care, basic and essential services, while reducing some of the pressures facing vulnerable individuals and families.

Looking Ahead

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis is an example of why the laws of war have consequences well beyond the battlefield. Protecting hospitals, food and water systems and other essential civilian infrastructure can preserve and support life-saving services, reduce the financial burdens for civilians and families and further help to limit the destruction of Sudanese livelihoods. Ultimately civilian protection in Sudan depends on greater respect for humanitarian law and sustained humanitarian access. These measures cannot substitute for a political and diplomatic end to the conflict, but they can help to preserve human life, essential services and the economic foundations communities need to effectively recover.

 – Elias Haskins

Elias is based in Claremont, CA and focuses on Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr