Gender alert: Three years of war: Sudanese women on the frontlines of humanitarian and local peacebuilding efforts

This gender alert analyses the disproportionate impact of three years of war in Sudan on women and girls, and the critical leadership role Sudanese women are playing in sustaining their communities, delivering humanitarian assistance, and advancing local peacebuilding and mediation efforts amid the worst humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world.

While women are bearing the brunt of the conflict, they have been excluded from mediation and diplomatic efforts to end the war over the past three years: none of the formal peace negotiations have included a single Sudanese woman negotiator. Yet Sudanese women are on the frontlines of humanitarian response and first to lead local peace efforts. In 2025 alone, the 85 women-led organizations surveyed by UN Women provided support to more than 17.5 million people in need, and nearly half of the organizations reported playing a central role in community mediation and peacebuilding.

This alert calls for an immediate end to violence, protection of civilians, and holding perpetrators to account for all violations of international law, including sexual and gender-based violence. It also calls for meaningful participation of women in humanitarian response, including direct support to women-led efforts, and a minimum 40-per-cent quota for women in all diplomatic and peace initiatives.