We – Denmark, France, Greece, Guyana, Panama, Republic of Korea, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom, Security Council signatories of the Statement of Shared Commitments on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) – express our deep concern about the grave situation of women and girls in Sudan.
As Sudan continues to be gripped by devastating conflict and the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, women and girls are enduring immense suffering.
We strongly condemn the persistence of widespread sexual and gender-based violence across Sudan. Conflict-related sexual violence is increasingly used deliberately as a tactic of war. Women and girls are targeted with extreme brutality and face extreme risks, including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, abductions, trafficking and forced displacement. In areas such as El Fasher, wider Darfur and Kordofan, women are attacked while fleeing violence, seeking food or accessing basic services. Most disturbing of all, children, including infants and toddlers, are among the victims and survivors of rape.
We reiterate that these acts constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. We call on all parties to cease all violence and attacks against civilians, including women and girls, and take concrete steps to ensure their protection. Immediate action is needed to expand access to quality sexual and reproductive healthcare services and information free from coercion, discrimination and violence.
We underscore the urgent need to fight impunity and ensure accountability for all atrocities. Perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence, including those who order, enable, or command such crimes, must be held to account. Accountability is essential to deter further atrocities and ensure justice for survivors.
We welcome the ongoing international efforts to document violations and support investigations, including those by the International Criminal Court and Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan.
We also support SRSG Patten and her Team of Experts and join her call to preserve evidence and ensure survivors’ voices remain central in accountability processes. We support the use of Security Council sanctions against perpetrators of such crimes.
We reaffirm that women’s full, equal, meaningful and safe participation is indispensable to any credible, inclusive and lasting political solution for Sudan. Women. remain sidelined despite their proven leadership in humanitarian response, peacekeeping, local mediation and protection efforts.
Women, women’s rights and women-led organizations are central to humanitarian response and community resilience across Sudan, often working on the frontlines, but their efforts remain severely underfunded and excluded from decision making. Their leadership and voices must be at the heart of humanitarian, peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts.
The cost of inaction is already devastating for women and girls in Sudan. As reports emerge of attacks on medical facilities, including deliberate attacks and killings in the maternity hospital, and nearly three quarters of women-headed households facing food insecurity, the Security Council must keep the situation of women and girls at the forefront of its deliberations on Sudan.