THE year may be only a fortnight old, but there has been no shortage of dramatic global news. The American intervention in Venezuela, the rising tide of protest and violence in Iran, speculation about the future of Greenland, and the ongoing failure to secure peace in Ukraine and Gaza combine to create the impression that the world at the start of 2026 is a very dangerous place indeed. But a conflict that appears — repeatedly — to have fallen off the international radar is the one taking place in Sudan.

Sudan is no stranger to civil war, but this horrifying conflict has now raged for 1000 days. Atrocities have been widespread. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, told the UN Human Rights Council in November that bloodstains (identified as such by Yale University) on the ground in El Fasher had been photographed from space. The UN reports that 9.3 million people have been uprooted, and more than 4.3 million have fled across borders. The country is now in the grip of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. More than 21 million people — 45 per cent of the population — are suffering severe hunger. On a visit to the UK towards the end of last year (News, 21 November 2025), the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Revd Ezekiel Kondo, told the Church Times that people were eating trees and animal food in desperate attempts to survive.

Last year, Mr Türk said that both the atrocities and the famine had been expected and preventable, if only the repeated warnings that his office had issued had been heeded. He warned then that the conflict would spread next to the central region of Kordofan, which is exactly what has happened. Last weekend’s letter in The Times from 13 aid agencies, calling on the British Government to show greater leadership in helping to steer Sudan towards peace, is, therefore, timely — although whether this will be any more effective than the Cassandra-like warnings from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights remains to be seen. But, as the UN Security Council’s lead on Sudan, the UK has a clear moral duty to increase its efforts to push for an immediate ceasefire. Only then will it be possible to deliver effective international aid to relieve the suffering of the Sudanese people.

However difficult diplomatically, it is time to address the part played by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, something that the UAE has always denied. The Foreign Secretary assured us this week that Sudan was “a priority” for the Government, and pointed to an increase in funding to help to tackle the crisis. But, as Archbishop Kondo told us, the world has neglected the situation in Sudan for far too long. “If you really want to compare the situation of Sudan and Ukraine or Gaza, I think Sudan may be even worse,” he said a few weeks ago. Sadly, it seems that little has changed.