Country: Sudan Source: UN Women Please refer to the attached file. The Sudan Women Advisory Group is deeply alarmed by the escalating hostilities in Blue Nile State. The current expansion of the conflict has triggered widespread displacement and severely disrupted essential services, further exacerbating an already fragile humanitarian situation. Women and girls are disproportionately affected and bear the highest protection risks, including heightened exposure to violence and abuse during displacement and in relocation sites. This includes unsafe conditions for childbirth, increased risks of early and forced marriage, as well as restricted access to essential health services, including reproductive health care and life-saving medical support. Children are also severely impacted, facing heightened risks of trauma, malnutrition, and disruption of education as a result of displacement and instability. Critical shortages of shelter, food, water, sanitation, clothing, and hygiene supplies continue to worsen, compounded by the loss of agriculture and income sources due to displacement. These conditions have resulted in increasingly undignified and unsafe living conditions, with heightened protection risks for all, particularly women and girls. There is also a growing need for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services, given the significant levels of trauma experienced by women, children, and families affected by the crisis. Women leaders in Blue Nile report that women-led organizations remain the backbone of the response, continuing to provide essential support to women and girls. However, their work cannot be sustained without direct, flexible, and predictable funding, improved access, and meaningful inclusion in humanitarian coordination mechanisms. The Sudan Women Advisory Group also emphasizes the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and ensuring the protection of civilians at all times. The women of Blue Nile deserve dignified access to humanitarian assistance and a life free from violence and abuse. We, the Women Advisory Group, call for urgent action to: Ensure an immediate end to attacks on civilians and guarantee full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access for all humanitarian actors, including safe passage for women and girls seeking safety. Prioritize protection and intersectoral humanitarian interventions placing women and girls at the centre, including Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), Gender-Based Violence (GBV) response, and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services. Ensure sustained funding for women-led organizations and Women’s Emergency Rooms, and their full inclusion in all humanitarian coordination structures, recognizing their critical role in representing women’s voices and needs. Establish urgently safe spaces and women-only shelters in displacement sites to prevent gender-based violence, exploitation, and abuse, and to ensure dignity and protection. Guarantee meaningful participation of women leaders from Blue Nile in all ceasefire discussions and peace processes affecting the state. Immediate and coordinated action is not just a necessity, it is a moral obligation to protect the women and girls of Blue Nile State and to prevent any further deterioration of an already dire humanitarian crisis.