Date: July 24, 2026
By Kimberly Wilson
GENEVA — Women and girls in the Sudanese city of Al-Obeid are facing an impossible choice between risking deadly drone attacks during the day or sexual violence at night as they search for water, according to a new warning from UN Women, highlighting the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by Sudan's ongoing civil war.
The United Nations agency said residents of Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, are enduring severe shortages of clean water, food, and healthcare after months of intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict, now in its fourth year, has created one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.
According to Anna Mutavati, UN Women Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, women and girls are increasingly being targeted while trying to obtain water for their families.
"These women and girls have been harassed. They've been raped, and they've been subjected to other forms of sexual violence, all while trying to access water, one of life's most fundamental necessities," Mutavati told reporters in Geneva via video link from Nairobi.
UN Women said drone strikes targeting water sources during daylight hours have forced many women to collect water after dark, when they face heightened risks of harassment and sexual violence. As a result, the agency warned that there is effectively no safe time for women and girls to perform one of the most basic daily tasks.
The warning follows recent concerns raised by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who said civilians in Al-Obeid have lived under siege-like conditions for approximately 18 months, with relentless drone attacks and critical shortages of clean drinking water. He warned that the city risks experiencing atrocities similar to those previously witnessed in Al-Fashir, North Darfur.
Al-Obeid, home to an estimated 500,000 people, is believed to have a population made up of roughly 70% women and children, making the humanitarian impact particularly severe. Aid agencies say many families have little access to food, healthcare, sanitation, or protection services as fighting continues around the city.
Across Sudan, UN Women estimates that 12.7 million women and girls require gender-based violence prevention and response services this year alone—more than four times the number recorded when the conflict began in 2023. The dramatic increase reflects the growing scale of displacement, insecurity, and sexual violence affecting civilians throughout the country.
Humanitarian organizations also warned that funding shortages are limiting their ability to respond. According to UN Women, nearly two-thirds of women-led organizations surveyed in Sudan reported that safe spaces and gender-based violence services have either been closed or significantly reduced because of declining international funding.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF has displaced millions of people and devastated essential infrastructure across the country. International organizations have repeatedly reported widespread human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians, destruction of infrastructure, and conflict-related sexual violence.
Aid workers say the destruction of water systems has compounded the humanitarian emergency by forcing civilians to travel longer distances in search of clean water, exposing women and girls to additional security risks while also increasing the likelihood of disease outbreaks due to poor sanitation.
The United Nations is calling on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians, ensure safe access to humanitarian assistance, and respect international humanitarian law. Relief agencies have also appealed for increased international funding to restore protection services and provide emergency assistance to vulnerable communities.
As fighting intensifies across Sudan, humanitarian officials warn that without urgent international intervention, conditions in Al-Obeid could deteriorate further, placing hundreds of thousands of civilians especially women and children at even greater risk of violence, displacement, hunger, and disease.