Ranking Member Shaheen, Senators Booker, Coons, Merkley, Van Hollen Statement on the Third Anniversary of the Sudan Civil War

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Cory Booker (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Africa and Global Health Policy Sub-Committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) issued a statement on the third anniversary of the start of the Sudanese Civil War urging all parties to take immediate action to end the suffering of the Sudanese people and for the Quad, led by the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, to push for a durable path forward with a peaceful transition of power.

"Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been embroiled in a war that has no military solution. For three years, millions of civilians including women, children, journalists and humanitarian aid workers have faced egregious violations of basic human rights and dignity.

"Sudan is the world's worst humanitarian crisis with more than 13 million people displaced and more than 29 million people facing acute hunger. The RSF's 18-month siege of El-Fasher in Darfur, which choked off food, medicine and humanitarian access, culminated on October 26, 2026, in a deadly campaign of ethnically targeted killing, leaving tens of thousands dead. The unspeakable acts of systematic sexual violence against women and girls means there is no safe place for women and girls in Darfur. In South Kordofan, the SAF have launched attacks on civilian infrastructure, impeding lifesaving humanitarian access. Three years into the conflict in Sudan, the U.S. has determined that the RSF has committed genocide and the SAF have committed crimes against humanity.

"The SAF, RSF, allied parties and their external supporters must take immediate action to end the suffering of the Sudanese people. We call on all parties to the conflict to end attacks on civilian sites and to enable full and meaningful humanitarian access throughout Sudan. Additionally, securing a ceasefire and a durable political settlement remains essential. We call on the Quad to urgently bring forward a plan that holds perpetrators of gross human rights violations accountable and will end the violence and lay the groundwork for a peaceful transition of power."

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