Two years into Sudan’s war, where is its civil society?

A displaced Sudanese woman sits beside children at the Abdallah Nagi camp, which mostly houses people displaced from Khartoum, in Port Sudan, Sudan, April 15, 2025 [Ibrahim Mohammed Ishak/Reuters]

When Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took over most of the country’s capital Khartoum in the early days of the war, the youth-led civil society initiative Hadhreen kept its food kitchens – a vital lifeline for those in need – open.

It was risky. Countless examples of RSF violence against civilians and looting have been recorded since Sudan’s war started in April 2023.