24th September 2026
At a ministerial-level side event, organized by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations on the margins of UNGA 81, DWAG Founder and President Niemat Ahmadi was invited to participate as a speaker.
In recent months, violent drone attacks against civilians in Sudan have escalated at an alarming rate, with death, displacement, and the destruction of service infrastructure becoming the killing triangle.
Ahmadi spoke passionately about how the escalated attacks in Sudan have affected civilians and frontline workers, stating:
“Reports indicate that over 1,100 civilians have been killed by drone attacks this year alone, and the most recent drone attack in Damazine, Blue Nile, demonstrated the increased capacity of the RSF to use drones. The numbers we share are not just figures; these are our relatives and family members who have hopes, aspirations, and dreams. I urge you not to let the people of Sudan die in silence.”
Both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have committed gross violations that continue to endanger civilian lives and livelihoods. However, the RSF and allied militias’ motives and actions are more deliberate, with the RSF seeking to systematically exterminate Indigenous African populations – as evidently proven by the genocide in El Geneina, El Fasher and the recent patterns of systemic attacks in Kordofan and the Blue Nile.
Since the fall of El Fasher in October 2025, cities across Kordofan, Darfur, and Blue Nile have faced indiscriminate attacks, with the RSF targeting civilian infrastructure, community gatherings, and displacement camps. The integration of advanced drone technology – facilitated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – has widened the RSF’s operational capacity and increased civilian risk.
Armed drones are now the leading cause of civilian deaths in Sudan. RSF drone strikes have targeted critical civilian infrastructure in and around El-Obeid, including water stations, fuel stations, and civilian vehicles. These attacks are not fighting between the warring parties; they are war against civilians.
At Darfur Women Action Group, we refuse to remain silent about the attacks on civilians and other human rights violations in Sudan. We call on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to take measures to protect civilians and frontline responders, especially with the increasing use of drones in modern warfare and lack of compliance with international humanitarian law.
We urge the UNSC and the UNGA to take the following steps to swiftly resolve the crises in Sudan:
- Make Sudan a primary focus of the upcoming UNGA session, calling for urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis and protect civilians.
- Authorize UN-led peacekeeping forces under Chapter VII to protect civilians in conflict zones, especially in Darfur. If the Security Council fails to act, the Coalition for Atrocity Prevention and Justice for Sudan should support an expansion of civilian protection mechanisms.
- Support and fully resource the UN Fact-Finding Mission, protect its mandate and independence, and use its findings as an evidentiary basis for accountability and targeted sanctions. Continue investigations into transnational actors assisting the warring parties.
- Expand the arms embargo across Sudan, including unmanned aerial technology, and strengthen expert-monitored compliance on the ground.
- Adopt an atrocities prevention approach that prioritizes civilian protection and accountability, creating an enabling environment for a peaceful settlement of the crisis.
- Pressure the warring parties to demilitarize areas occupied by vulnerable civilians, including IDP camps, and press for the RSF’s withdrawal from El Fasher to enable humanitarian access across greater Darfur.
- Press RSF leaders to release all civilians imprisoned in Dagaris Prison in South Darfur, particularly women and children.
The RSF is committing gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, resulting in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. These atrocities unfolding across Sudan demand the immediate and decisive action of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly as they gather this week for the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly.
DWAG calls on our supporters to stand with us, speak out, and demand that atrocity prevention, accountability, and justice be prioritized in Sudan. We must speak up and compel the international community to use all the tools at their disposal to ensure that those responsible for bloodshed are held accountable; we cannot allow the citizens of Sudan to be slaughtered in silence whilst perpetrators remain unpunished.
We call on all DWAG supporters to speak out and use your platform to condemn the horrific acts of violence against civilians in Sudanese communities. Through collective voice and action, we can end the suffering, stop the genocide, and bring those responsible to justice.
With gratitude,
Niemat Ahmadi
Founder and President, Darfur Women Action Group
For inquiries, please contact: policy@darfurwomenaction.org
For more resources and to find ways in which you can help, go to: www.darfurwomenaction.org