Ten years after the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2286 condemning attacks on medical facilities and personnel, violations affecting healthcare in Sudan remain widespread, systematic and devastating.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023, hospitals, clinics, ambulances, patients and health workers have been repeatedly struck, resulting in more than 2,000 civilian deaths and significantly undermining the right to health.

“Resolution 2286 reaffirmed that medical personnel, facilities and transport are protected under international humanitarian law and must be respected in armed conflicts, yet a decade on, the conflict in Sudan illustrates how the failure to ensure accountability has allowed attacks on medical workers to persist,” said Radhouane Nouicer, the designated Expert on the human rights situation in Sudan.

According to the World Health Organization, there have been at least 217 attacks on healthcare facilities in Sudan since 15 April 2023.

“The prevalence of such attacks on healthcare facilities raises serious concerns about repeated breaches of international humanitarian law and directly undermine the right to health. Such acts may also amount to international crimes,” said Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health.