The UN warns of a mental health crisis in Sudan

The United Nations is warning of a growing mental health crisis in Sudan, driven by widespread sexual violence linked to the ongoing conflict.

Since fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and approximately 11 million have been displaced.

As the fighting rages on, the UN agencies and aid organizations report that rape and other forms of sexual violence that are rampantly being used as weapons of war and are leaving survivors with severe psychological trauma and limited access to care.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders reported that at least 3,396 survivors, nearly all women and girls, received treatment at facilities it supports in North and South Darfur between January 2024 and November 2025. 

However, the World Health Organization indicates that these figures likely represent only a small fraction of the true scale of the issue.

"Accessing services when you are raped is very, very challenging," Avni Amin, head of WHO's gender-based violence unit, told an event at the UN in Geneva, focused on Sudan's humanitarian and health emergency.

She pointed to a lack of security and difficulty reaching functioning healthcare establishments, and notably not enough health workers trained to deal with victims of sexual violence.

The huge stigma for survivors was also a major barrier, said Amin.

"For every woman who discloses, there are probably eight or nine women who've been raped and who will suffer in silence," she warned.

Shoko Arakaki, head of UN Population Fund's humanitarian response division, stressed that it was "very, very important" for victims of sexual violence to receive clinical treatment within 72 hours.

"But we don't have services, we don't have medicines," she said.

In particular, she stressed the need to provide psychosocial support, as a growing number of victims are laden with severe mental health issues.

"A lot of suicide is happening," she said.

Amin said there needed to be far bigger emphasis on mental health support in Sudan, alongside the focus on saving lives.