East Africa
Sudan (Darfur)
The conflict in Sudan has fueled widespread displacement and famine, with ethnic and religious minorities in Darfur facing targeted violence and severe hardship.
- World Region East Africa
- Issue Tag Conflict & Displacement
East Africa
The conflict in Sudan has fueled widespread displacement and famine, with ethnic and religious minorities in Darfur facing targeted violence and severe hardship.
Darfur, a region in western Sudan, is currently engulfed in a devastating humanitarian crisis. Since April 2023, fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has forced tens of millions of people into displacement, triggered severe food shortages, and destabilized basic services. In Darfur, where Shai Fund works, long-standing ethnic and religious divisions are being inflamed by brutal violence, especially against indigenous non-Arab and Christian communities. Famine has been confirmed in parts of North Darfur, and reports document mass killings, summary executions, and systematic abuses by militias now controlling the region.
Darfur is home to a complex tapestry of ethnic groups, many of them non-Arab African communities such as the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa, and Berti, who historically have farmed the land, while various Arab nomadic tribes have grazed across it. These divisions have been central to longstanding tensions over land, resources, and political power.
Religiously, the population of Darfur is overwhelmingly Muslim, though many non-Arab groups practice forms of Islam infused with Sufi traditions. Within this overwhelmingly Muslim region, Christians constitute a very small minority, and those who convert from Islam — often called Muslim-background believers (MBBs) — face severe persecution. Converts may be rejected by their families, threatened by tribal leaders, or targeted by armed groups that view conversion as an act of betrayal. In RSF-held areas, house churches have been pushed underground, and Christians risk detention, beatings, or disappearance if suspected of prayer meetings or evangelism.
The modern crisis escalated in 2023, when a brutal civil war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). This conflict has devastated Sudan's institutions and infrastructure, worsening an already fragile humanitarian situation. Millions have been internally displaced, and famine has been officially confirmed in parts of North Darfur.
One of the most alarming developments has been the fall of El Fasher in October 2025, the last major city in Darfur not under RSF control. After its capture, satellite imagery reveals evidence of mass graves, summary executions, and ethnic cleansing targeting Fur, Zaghawa, and Berti communities. Beyond the violence, the war has unleashed a full-scale humanitarian disaster — according to the UN, more than 30 million people in Sudan now need aid, and in camps for internally displaced persons, there is a growing risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera amid unsafe water conditions.
In this dire environment, Shai Fund's work is critically needed. Through trusted local church networks, Shai Fund is delivering life-saving food, medicine, and shelter to vulnerable populations in Darfur, including both Christian and Muslim families. By doing so, the Fund not only addresses urgent physical needs but also strengthens social cohesion, standing alongside persecuted communities in a region scarred by ethnic and religious violence.
Support life-saving food, medicine, and shelter for communities caught in Sudan's civil war.
