Washington, D.C. / Geneva – The Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) welcomes the decision by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Sudan. The resolution – A/HRC/60/L.18, titled “Responding to the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by the ongoing armed conflict in the Sudan” – passed on October 6, 2025, and extends the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Sudan for one year. This renewal allows investigators to continue documenting ongoing atrocities and human rights violations committed by both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the people of Sudan, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other grave violations of international law.
This decision comes after the joint effort by a global coalition of human rights organizations, including Darfur Women Action Group(DWAG), in urging the UN Human Rights Council members to vote to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Sudan. This call came amidst escalating atrocities in Darfur and across Kordofan. The current crisis in Sudan is rooted in the long-standing cycle of genocide and impunity that started in Darfur more than 20 years ago. The genocide that started more than two decades ago has yet to be resolved, and the victims of the past are facing unprecedented attacks today. The scorched earth campaign of 2002- 2003 genocide has resulted in conservative estimates indicating that over 300,000 civilians have been killed, and over 3 million displaced and remained in Camps for two decades, because their attackers have yet to be apprehended or held accountable.
Today, the war has devastated the lives and livelihoods of countless civilians across, driving 13 million more out of their homes, with 26 million estimated to be facing severe hunger and food insecurity. Famine in Darfur has reached its breaking point, and the siege in El Fasher has been used as a tool of killing by the RSF, as 260,000 civilians are trapped in El Fasher without food, medicine, or other means of survival. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) imposed famine, where countless men, women, and children are facing starvation, disease, and ethnically targeted violence. The suffering in Darfur, Kordofan, and the surrounding regions continued as the region became isolated, with starvation, mass murder, displacement, and ethnic violence continuing unabated.
The renewal of the FFM mandate is of significant importance, as the FFM has been one of the few international mechanisms systematically recording the truth of what is happening in Sudan. Since its establishment in 2023, the FFM has documented and reported on widespread violations by both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), including indiscriminate shelling of civilians, systematic sexual violence, and deliberate starvation as a weapon of war. Its reports have helped raise international awareness, and its continuation is necessary to preserve critical evidence of gross human rights violations and crimes committed in Sudan, which can pave the way for future justice for the victims and accountability for perpetrators.
As part of its advocacy, DWAG has actively campaigned for the FFM’s renewal. During the 60th Session of the Human Rights Council, DWAG joined over 100 civil society partners in signing a letter coordinated by Defend Defenders, urging at least a two-year extension. DWAG President Niemat Ahmadi, along with other CSOs, met with more than 20 country’s delegations in Geneva, participated in high-level panels, and delivered remarks during the debate on Sudan, emphasizing that “Documentation and establishing a record for serious international crimes is of paramount importance for taking an atrocities prevention approach to resolving the crises in Sudan, which starts with accountability.”
While DWAG commends this decision to extend the FFM as a critical step forward, we stress that the scale of the crisis in Sudan demands a stronger, longer-term commitment from the member states. The one-year extension, though welcome, must be accompanied by sustained resources, political will, and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that the FFM has access to information to secure evidence that leads to justice and accountability.
DWAG reiterates that the work of the FFM is far from over. Countless survivors remain unreached, their stories untold, and their trauma unrecorded. The mission must now be strengthened, resourced, and granted full access to operate inside Sudan. Continued pressure from global civil society proves that speaking out can yield results, and it must not stop here.
We call on the Human Rights Council and all member states to:
- Guarantee unrestricted access for the FFM to besieged areas, including El Fasher, Tarasin, and Kordofan;
- Provide full logistical and financial support to expand the mission’s reach and ensure thorough, survivor-centered documentation;
- Preserve and act upon collected evidence, ensuring that it informs prosecutions at both international and national levels;
- Hold external enablers accountable, including those supplying arms, financing militias, or obstructing humanitarian access;
- Recognize that this extension must be a first step, not an endpoint, toward a sustained international justice process for Sudan.
The extension of the FFM is a direct outcome of sustained advocacy, and it serves as a reminder that international engagement can bring tangible progress toward justice
We believe that resolving the crises in Sudan can’t be achieved without proper accountability. The proper accountability can’t be achieved without the collection of evidence and establishing records for the man-made atrocities in Sudan.
With Gratitude,
Niemat Ahmadi, President,
Darfur Women Action Group