Sudan reaches 1,000th day of war as aid agencies say civilians 'paying the price'

Sudan's war reached its 1,000th day on Friday, with the UN and aid agencies marking the day with a reminder of the civilian cost of the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

The war has raged since April 2023, when the RSF seized parts of the capital, Khartoum, prompting airstrikes from the army. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, and uprooted over millions from their homes.

The UN's aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Friday that civilians have been "paying the price for a war they did not choose".

According to the latest UN data, 9.3 million people have been internally displaced, while 4.3 million have fled into neighbouring countries. A further 21 million people are believed to be living in acute food insecurity across the country.

The UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF) says that 5,000 young people have been displaced every day since the start of the war.

“Many have been displaced not once but repeatedly, with violence following them wherever they flee,” said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires was quoted as saying on the UN's news portal.

Pires warned that millions of children - including babies - are at risk of rape and sexual violence.

OCHA also reiterated concerns about "rampant" sexual violence against women, with some 12 million women and young girls at risk, according to the agency.

Marking the 1,000th day of Sudan's war on Friday, Germany's Foreign Ministry announced that it would be hosting an aid conference for the war-torn country.

"The world's largest humanitarian crisis has already driven millions of civilians into poverty and many tens of thousands to their deaths," a ministry spokeswoman said.

"Germany is doing everything in its power, both politically and in humanitarian terms, to help the people on the ground and to end the fighting."

The conference would be held around the anniversary of the 2023 outbreak of the civil war in April, the spokeswoman said.

Previous Sudan aid conferences were held in Paris in 2024 and London in 2025.

International calls for a ceasefire have so far failed to halt the fighting between Sudan's army-aligned government and the RSF, which is descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.