Sudan between humanitarianism and humanity: the hidden conflict
DI ELISABETTA SEMERARO
3/12/2025
Why is the internal armed conflict currently affecting Sudan since 2023, described by the UN as “the world’s most severe humanitarian and displacement crisis at the moment”, so often submerged beneath piles of global news, that media outlets deem more pressing or important?
While millions are displaced, starved and affected by escalating violence, Sudan’s crisis rarely gains the first page on the newspaper.
This article addresses the current situation in Sudan and interrogates why some conflicts and humanitarian crises are granted visibility, while others remain untold and under-represented, creating a hierarchical narration in global political communication. Media attention does not only inform, its lens and narration also shape the acknowledgement of suffering and direct the public’s concerns. What happens while the lights are off a no one is watching?
The context
Sudan’s civil war, despite being severely under-reported on the media agenda, is striking as one of the most urgent and pressing humanitarian crises worldwide at the moment. According to UN reports at least 150.000 people have been killed since the beginning of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group.
The roots of the conflict trace back to Sudan’s 2019 revolution that deposed Omar Al-Bashir, the dictator. The transitional period that followed was intended to lead the country toward democratic elections but instead saw increasing tensions arising between the military and civilian factions, economic hardship and competing political interests.
In 2021 the two military leaders, Abdel Fatta Al-Burhan (SAF) and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (RSF), consolidated their control over the transition, while increasing rivalry exploded in an open conflict between the two components in April 2023.
In recent months, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) gained control of El Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur region after an 18-months siege, advancing the risk of a de facto partition of the country, and accelerating mass violence directly targeting civilians on ethnic grounds. The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court declared its concern over the reports of mass killings, rapes and other atrocities committed during the attacks, calling for investigation and accountability into potential war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The humanitarian emergency is catastrophic: nearly 30 million people require aid and over 12 million have been displaced, also affecting the neighbouring States’ capacity to welcome refugees and thus fuelling the region’s political instability. The civil war could concretely re-shape the political dynamics of the Horn of Africa, and directly involve regional and global actors including Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
Humanitarian aid struggles to be effective and reach civilians due to insecurity, bureaucratic obstruction and deliberate blockades. At the same time, international cooperation and multilateralism are facing their own crises: shrinking budgets with States allocating less and less resources, and declining political commitment that erodes their credibility.
Humanitarian communication
One of the clearest limits to media coverage of the conflict lies in the difficulty of accessing reliable information from the ground. Communications are scarce and fragmented often reaching the outside in delayed and limited forms. Journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently unable to enter the conflict zones, leaving reporting to rely on aerial perspectives.
Satellite images are used to detect changes in temperature that may indicate the presence or absence of living bodies, or to identify areas where the soil has been disturbed, suggesting digging of mass graves, while patches of land appear unnaturally reddened, saturated by the blood of the mass killings.
This visual distance when combined with quantitatively scarce media coverage raises a crucial question: how does communication function when violence is visible only through remote lens?
Several factors contribute to Sudan’s marginalisation in global media agendas. Limited access to the country and security risks are significant obstacles, but they do not fully explain the scale of international silence. Another factor is the perceived lack of “novelty” or tangible developments: when a conflict appears stagnant, cyclical, or geographically remote, media outlets often deprioritise it.
Compassion fatigue also plays a role: the overwhelming flow of negative news often times characterized by sensationalism, causes mental exhaustion in the public opinion, leading to indifference and apathy, making it harder to elicit compassion in the audience and enhancing moral distance. Public attention becomes fragmented, and conflicts that lack immediate geopolitical implications or strong emotional narratives are often overlooked. This disengagement has concrete consequences: reduced media attention weakens international accountability mechanisms, affects funding for humanitarian operations, and diminishes diplomatic pressure for conflict resolution.
Scholars in humanitarian communication argue that global media coverage follows a hierarchy of suffering that ultimately surrounds and affects victims themselves: some finding recognition and resources, and some others suffering from selective visibility. This hierarchy is shaped by geopolitical interests, cultural proximity, perceived strategic relevance, and long-standing assumptions about the Global South. Sudan exemplifies a broader pattern: African conflicts are often framed as chronic, inevitable, or too complex, reinforcing a sense of distance and resignation.
This selective visibility does not merely distort global understanding, it affects victims directly. Those who appear in news headlines are more likely to receive humanitarian aid, diplomatic support, and public solidarity. Those who remain unseen risk being deprived not only of resources, but of the recognition that affirms their humanity.
At the same time, scholars caution against humanitarian sentimentalism, especially regarding narratives that rely solely on emotional shock, sensational images, or depictions of passive victims. While it is crucial to report on Sudan’s atrocities, it is equally important to avoid reproducing stereotyped portrayals of African suffering or exploiting violence for emotional impact. Such approaches may attract short-term attention but often fail to foster sustained engagement or political understanding. Responsible humanitarian communication must therefore navigate a delicate balance: making suffering visible without turning it into spectacle; raising awareness without sensationalising; and advocating for victims without reducing them to images of tragedy.
Conclusion
Sudan’s conflict is not only a humanitarian disaster but a crisis that encompasses the visibility and recognition of its victims. As the conflict spreads rapidly, millions of people face starvation, displacement, and atrocities, while the world’s limited attention becomes part of the problem.
To confront the crisis in Sudan, it is not enough to call for humanitarian aid or diplomatic intervention; it is equally essential to address how global communication structures decide which lives are seen, which stories are heard, and which crises deserve urgency. Restoring visibility to Sudan’s victims is a matter of humanity, responsibility, and global solidarity.
Useful links:
https://tvpworld.com/90336633/sudan-conflict-becomes-test-case-for-global-rivalries-across-africa
https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/sudan-la-tregua-che-non-ce-222850
https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/local-peace-agreement-brings-harmony-to-car-sudan-border-communities
https://medium.com/@garinpasila/why-150000-deaths-sudan-less-coverage-than-gaza-f00db62d68da
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