“In El Fasher, I couldn’t have any health check-ups because there were no hospitals left near us,” said Zainab, 26, who was pregnant during describing a brutal siege that lasted 18 months in the capital of North Darfur State. 

During the blockade, women and girls were subjected to relentless bombardment and escalating sexual violence while cut off from humanitarian aid. As health facilities came under repeated attack, medicines ran out, pregnant women delivered babies without any skilled assistance, and survivors of rape were left without medical care.

The crisis escalated in October 2025, as El Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces. 

“We dug trenches to hide and sheltered inside them,” said Rania, 22, who was pregnant at the time. “There was shelling every day.”