May 25, 2025
Last Sunday, May 18, 2025, human rights defender Aye Kari Soe’s voice echoed powerfully during a rally at Parliament Square in London. The Sudan Peace Forum organized the event from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM to spotlight Sudan’s forgotten crisis. Aye Kari Soe’s message was unwavering: “The world stays silent while women, children, and millions of displaced people suffer. This was not a moment for pity, but for action.”
Women bear a double burden
Aye Kari Soe emphasized how women in Sudan are both victims and leaders. Sexual violence, used as a war tactic, more than doubled in the conflict’s first year. Aye Kari Soe highlighted horrific practices: women are abducted, abused in front of family members, or traded as commodities. Yet, they lead aid networks and care for orphans under life-threatening conditions. “They are building futures in a land that denies them even a voice,” said Aye Kari Soe.
Lost youth, lost hope
Over 19 million children in Sudan no longer attend school. Aye Kari Soe described how teens are recruited as child soldiers or married off for so-called “protection.” In refugee camps, adolescents teach with sticks and sand. “Education is not a luxury—it is a lifeline,” stated Aye Kari Soe. “Every child deprived of a pen will one day hold a weapon.”
Hunger as daily reality
More than 26 million people in Sudan lack sufficient food, according to Aye Kari Soe. Families eat leaves or boil stones to trick children into believing soup is coming. Aid convoys are blocked, markets bombed, and farmers displaced. “Hunger is not a natural disaster—it is political failure,” declared Aye Kari Soe. “Silence sides with the oppressor.”
“Silence is complicity”
Aye Kari Soe directly addressed Western leaders and media: “Sudan vanishes from headlines because it lacks strategic interest. But silence about rape, hunger, and neglect makes you complicit.” She demanded funding for aid, pressure for ceasefires, and honest reporting. “Show the faces, name the numbers. Only then can we break the cycle of oblivion.”
Sources: Speech by Aye Kari Soe, Sudan Peace Forum, UN data.
Andy Vermaut