NEW YORK: Two hours after a Rapid Support Forces drone strike hit a convoy of World Food Programme trucks transporting aid to displaced families in North Kordofan, Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, drove past the smoldering wreckage.

The vehicles, contracted by the UN, had caught fire, destroying food intended for thousands of starving civilians. One person died and several others were injured in the attack on February 6.

Brown had once again witnessed firsthand the fragility of aid operations and the extreme hazards confronting humanitarian personnel in a country entering its third year of conflict.

“We lost UN colleagues killed. National NGO colleagues killed,” Brown told Arab News from Port Sudan. “It’s a constant refrain here; this is a dangerous business. The work we’re doing is in a high-risk context, but it’s where the world expects the UN to be. So we are there.

“And I am not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying we don’t have moments. When I went past those trucks, I was like, uh-oh. It was very close. So you have those moments. We start thinking maybe we need to go back? No. Absolutely not.

“So while these are horrendous incidents that need to be investigated, right now, it’s not stopping us from moving. It’s really the local Sudanese organizations that are out there all the time, and when something happens to them, it’s not front-page news the way it is for the UN.

“And I am really hopeful that soon our trucks will get into Dilling, where we haven’t been in months.”

Sudan’s defense minister has denied reports attributed to the General Intelligence Service alleging that the convoy targeted in North Kordofan was transporting weapons under the cover of humanitarian aid.

Gen. Hassan Kabroun told Arab News: “These claims are completely false. The Sudanese army does not use humanitarian convoys for military purposes.” He accused the Abu Dhabi-backed RSF of trying to deflect responsibility for the attack.

The ultimate victims of such attacks are the Sudanese civilians who desperately need aid.

In Darfur and Kordofan, towns remain under siege, economies are shattered and essential services disrupted. Malnutrition rates in Darfur have soared to 54 percent, three times the emergency threshold, with famine declared in Al-Fasher and Kadugli.

The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the SAF and the paramilitary RSF, has killed tens of thousands, with analysts putting the true death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

More than 33 million people now require humanitarian assistance, and more than 13.6 million have been displaced, including 4.3 million who have fled to neighboring countries.

Brown, a Canadian senior UN official with more than 25 years’ experience in complex emergencies from Ukraine to the Central African Republic, has held multiple leadership roles with the World Food Programme across Africa and at headquarters.

But even for her, the crisis in Sudan stands out.

“There’s a lot that’s keeping me awake at night, to be honest,” Brown told Arab News, reflecting on recent visits to displacement camps across Northern State, White Nile and North Kordofan.

“People continue to flee violence. People that I’ve met have been on their own, struggling because of the war. In many of these communities, particularly towns under siege like Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan or Al-Fasher, economies are broken.

“Jobs are lost. Families are separated. And you can see in the city the physical and mental toll that this takes on the people of Sudan. My heart broke quite a bit in the White Nile.

“The other day there was a large group of people who had just arrived from Kadugli, including one very elderly, frail lady who made it barefoot. Barefoot. That’s hundreds of kilometers. Sitting, waiting for assistance.

“So, how do we then provide everything that these people need, knowing that needs are growing and there are major protection concerns? Women alone. Children alone.”

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council published a report accusing the RSF of unleashing a “wave of intense violence … shocking in its scale and brutality” during its final offensive to capture Al-Fasher last October.

The report, based on interviews with more than 140 survivors and witnesses from Sudan’s Northern State and eastern Chad in late 2025, documented more than 6,000 killings in the first three days of the RSF assault that followed an 18-month siege.

The report said at least 4,400 people were killed in Al-Fasher during those initial days, and more than 1,600 others were killed while they attempted to flee. The actual death toll during the week-long assault is likely to be significantly higher, the report added.

In many cases, attacks were directed against civilians based on their ethnicity or perceived affiliation, the report said.

“The wanton violations that were perpetrated by the RSF and allied Arab militia in the final offensive on Al-Fasher underscore that persistent impunity fuels continued cycles of violence,” said Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights.

Brown highlighted the operational challenges of delivering aid to people where they are, rather than waiting for them to reach UN facilities.

“How do we get supplies to them? These are big questions. Because, at the end of the day, people’s lives depend on this. We’ve seen the malnutrition rates from Darfur: 54 percent. I’ve never seen that in my whole career. Three times higher than emergency levels.

“I think about those children a lot. Their death is written on the wall unless we can do more to help them. It’s a tall ask. This is really a life or death situation.”

She also described structural and geopolitical constraints limiting humanitarian access.

“In 2025, we were funded at 35 percent. When I was in the Al-Afat camp last week, I was asked, ‘Why is the UN not delivering?’ I said, ‘The UN can only deliver what we have.’

“This is a massive country with multiple frontlines, so delivering aid is difficult. We’re grateful for the Adre crossing from Chad into Darfur, and I hope we’ll eventually use the Tine crossing further north.

“Access also requires negotiation, particularly with the RSF in Darfur. In South Kordofan, active conflict has blocked aid for months. We lose people, and I’m not prepared to send them where they will be killed.

“It’s a difficult balance, but these are the obstacles that constantly get in our way.”

The risks are further compounded by the intensifying use of drones.

Drone attacks by both RSF and SAF have targeted convoys, markets, hospitals and residential neighborhoods. UN documentation shows that in the two weeks leading up to Feb. 6, some 90 civilians were killed and 142 injured in South and North Kordofan.

Despite these dangers, Brown refuses to name specific actors responsible, emphasizing the moral tension facing humanitarians.

“I’m the aid worker here. I’m the least important person in this conversation. I’m not the one who should be pointing out who should be doing what.

“All I can do is point out the consequences of this war on the people of Sudan, no matter where they are. And tell the world that the suffering is wrong. It’s not a way to live. These people don’t deserve this. They did not ask for it.

“So those who are in the position to make decisions, just ask them. Please step forward. Whoever they may be.”

Brown underscored the strategic use of famine and siege as weapons.

“Famine has been declared in two communities — Al-Fasher and Kadugli. This is not due to a failed harvest — it’s manmade.

“Towns are under siege, economies are broken, there are no jobs, people cannot take care of themselves, and commercial transport is interrupted. Convoys into Al-Fasher were blocked for 500 days.

“With food unavailable in markets and access blocked, malnutrition and mortality rise — that’s when famine occurs. Other areas are likely in a similar situation, even if we lack data.

“We’re very worried about Dilling and communities around Al-Fasher, and we are focusing on getting the supplies we do have to them.”

Brown painted a stark picture of civilian needs, spanning water, sanitation, nutrition, health services and vaccinations.

“Everything is required; access to drinkable water, health services, nutrition support, food, vaccinations. These children haven’t been vaccinated in quite some time. When I saw people coming from Kadugli last week, even adults were very thin.

“I’ve spoken many times about the severely malnourished babies in Tawila, who came from Al-Fasher just after the atrocities in October. These babies had almost no flesh and required immediate medical attention, which those we reached received.

“These are the consequences of war.”

Since the beginning of the conflict, the international community has been accused of dragging its feet, with peace efforts happening only sporadically. However, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, believes there is now a “certain focus” on the issue.

At a donor conference in Washington, D.C., this week, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged swift international action to address famine, sexual violence and mass displacement, stressing the need to move from words to action to support more than 20 million people.

The Sudan Quintet — which includes the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Arab League, the EU and the UN — issued a strongly worded statement calling on those with influence over the warring factions to “halt the flow of weapons, fighters, and other forms of support that sustain violence and contribute to the fragmentation of Sudan.”

With the UN chief arriving in Addis Ababa for the AU summit on Feb. 14-15, Dujarric told Arab News: “I think that there’s a certain focus, should we say, on everybody understanding — or at least most people understanding — that this conflict needs to end after the horrific things that are still going on.

“We’ve talked almost a couple of times a week about drones or rocket fires hitting hospitals, schools, mosques, killing people who themselves are near starvation. The level of depravity and cruelty that we’re seeing is close to being unmatched.

“Through the work of Tom Fletcher and Ramtane Lamamra (the UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan), we’re trying to bring the international community together to ensure that everybody’s pushing in the same direction.

“Sudan will be high on the secretary-general’s agenda while he’s in Addis Ababa to continue to push and seize this moment of focus.”

Brown concluded: “Sudan needs to be there. There needs to be intensive efforts to find ways to stop this war, or at least ensure we can get our job done. I can’t stop this war. So those who can, I’m really counting on them to step up to this incredibly difficult situation. We’re coming up to the third year of this war.”

Funding shortfalls, ongoing insecurity and the fragmented international response remain persistent obstacles.

“In 2025, we were funded at 35 percent. That’s 35 percent of what people need. One of the lowest, terrible moments for me was in Darfur — Tawila, Korma.

“Last October, we were operating just from Tawila, waiting for people to come to us, and then they get there, and we don’t have what they need. That’s a very difficult thing to accept.

“Now, we’ve been pushing out the NGOs, the UN doing a great job, faster, but we need the resources to ensure basic life-saving supplies are available. I’m talking about water, sanitation and nutrition support. We’re not talking about anything luxurious. Basic humanitarian assistance. So I hope the world is paying attention.”