UNHCR warns of dramatic scale of violence against forcibly displaced women and girls in emergencies, as protection risks rising amid funding shortfalls
UNHCR warns of dramatic scale of violence against forcibly displaced women and girls in emergencies, as protection risks rising amid funding shortfalls
A Sudanese refugee woman in eastern Chad.
DAKAR, 25 November 2025 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, reports alarming levels of violence against forcibly displaced women and girls in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and those fleeing Sudan for Chad, while the capacity to assist them is stretched to breaking point.
In eastern Chad, refugees continue to arrive in steady numbers with over 9,500 crossing the border since the attack on the Sudanese city of El Fasher on 24 October by the Rapid Support Forces. Refugees are exhausted and traumatized. More than 80 per cent are women and children – many unaccompanied or separated - all in urgent need of assistance and protection. Numbers are expected to rise in the coming weeks.
Women and girls who crossed the border shared harrowing stories of how they have survived grave human rights violations in Sudan. 70 percent of survivors described psychological and emotional harm. 15 per cent reported rape, often collective, and 11 percent had suffered physical assault. Women reported being abducted, beaten, tortured, detained for days and subjected to rape by groups ranging from two to ten armed men. Many fled under fire, carrying small children or elderly relatives, while others were separated from family members who never made it across the border. Many survivors arrived after 72 hours, making urgent medical care ineffective for preventing infection, pregnancy or complications.
“What we are seeing in eastern Chad is a protection emergency of a scale I have not seen before. UNHCR and partners are on the ground trying to help, but the hard reality is that we cannot reach everyone, because we lack the funds” said Dossou Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR Principal Sudan Situation Coordinator in Chad. “This is life-saving work at its truest. We urgently need more funding to protect these women and children who have bravely reached safety in the most horrific circumstances”.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), around 53 per cent of reported incidents of violence against women and girls involve sexual violence, with approximately 89 per cent of survivors being women and girls, of which over 39 per cent are children. The actual scale is likely much higher as many incidents go unreported. Armed groups are reported to use rape as a weapon of war, deliberately targeting communities.
UNHCR and partners are using available resources to respond, but the gaps are visible. In eastern Chad, from 15 May to 30 September, only 29.68 per cent of survivors could access urgent medical care.
All survivors of violence identified by UNHCR in eastern Chad received psychosocial support. In Wadi Fira and Ennedi Est provinces, psychologists have reached more than 22,000 arrivals and provided psychological first aid and trauma counselling to those needing immediate support. Despite severe funding reductions, this life-saving work remains a priority, even as UNHCR operations in Chad face a funding gap of 62 per cent for the Sudan refugee response.
In the DRC, as of September 2025, only 9 per cent of identified needs were met. Yet UNHCR and partners continue to operate safe spaces, provide case management services, ensure referrals for medical care within the narrow 72-hour window when possible, support legal assistance, and offer psychosocial counselling to survivors. More than 101,000 people have participated in community-based prevention and protection activities.
UNHCR’s 2025 funding requirement for prevention of violence against women and girls and survivor support programming in West and Central Africa stands at USD 61 million, but only 27 per cent has been funded. UNHCR is calling on donors, governments and partners to increase flexible and multi-year funding for protection activities and critical services for survivors of violence.
“Survivors cannot wait,” said Nora Staunton, Senior Protection and Solutions Coordinator at UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa. “Every day without action leaves far too many girls and women exposed to further violence and harm. Without urgent support, thousands will remain without the protection and care they desperately need.”
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