Sudan and South Sudan - Security Council, 10027th meeting

El Fasher in ‘even darker hell’, UN officials tell Security Council, as delegates decry horrific crimes following city’s capture by Rapid Support Forces.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 02:05:50
• Production Date: 30 October 2025
• Asset Language: Arabic; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Chinese; Original
• Personal Subject: MARTHA AMA AKYAA POBEE; THOMAS FLETCHER
• Corporate Name: WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME - WFP; DEPARTMENT OF PEACE OPERATIONS - DPO; DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND PEACEBUILDING AFFAIRS - DPPA
• Subject Topical: PEACE AND SECURITY; VIOLENCE; HUMANITARIAN CRISIS; POLITICAL CRISIS; CIVILIAN PROTECTION; EMERGENCY RELIEF; SEXUAL VIOLENCE; ARMED FORCES
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN; SOUTH SUDAN
• MAMS Id: 3487727
• Parent Id: 3485405
• Alternate Title: MTG SC 10027 SUDAN SOUTH SUDAN 30 OCT 2025 AM

Description

The Sudanese city of El Fasher — already under a devastating siege for more than 500 days amid the country’s raging conflict — has now descended into an “even darker hell” with profound civilian costs, two senior UN officials told the Security Council today, as delegates decried “shocking” and “horrific” crimes following the city’s capture by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

“What is unfolding in El Fasher recalls the horrors Darfur was subjected to 20 years ago,” said Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. As RSF forces took the city days ago, reports of sexual violence, attacks on aid workers and extreme dangers for children have escalated. Already, over 90 per cent of children lack access to education and over 24 million people — 40 per cent of the population — lack sufficient food.

“The world has failed an entire generation,” he stressed, adding: “The Sudan crisis is, at its core, a failure of protection, and our responsibility to uphold international law.” He condemned the fresh attacks on civilians, including the reported killing of nearly 500 people at El Fasher’s Saudi Maternity Hospital, and blamed RSF for blocking humanitarian access to traumatized communities. Despite severe challenges, humanitarian operations have reached some 13.5 million people, he said, announcing $20 million in new UN funding for Darfur and Kordofan States.

Also briefing today was Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, who outlined “profound” human costs of El Fasher’s fall to RSF. There are credible reports of ethnically targeted violence, high rates of sexual violence, mass killings and house-to-house searches. Communications have been cut off and the situation is chaotic. “Despite commitments to protect civilians, the reality is that no one is safe in El Fasher,” she stressed.

• Briefer: Ms. Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations
• Briefer: Mr. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
• Statements: All Council members, with Algeria speaking on behalf of: Algeria, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Somalia
• Statements: Sudan, United Arab Emirates
• Further statements: Sudan, United Arab Emirates

Related Sites and Documents

UN Meetings Coverage

S/PV.10027