19.02.2026 Statement for Briefing on Sudan

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Thank you, Mr. President.

And I also thank USG DiCarlo, Director Wosornu and Ms. al-Karib for their disheartening updates.

Your briefings, as all the briefings we get on the situation in Sudan, embody the tragic duality of this conflict: Accounts so harrowing that they should be unimaginable, yet so recurrent that they risk becoming normalised.

So let me therefore also thank Foreign Secretary Cooper, for her presence today and for bringing the voices of the women of Sudan to the counsel so that this is not normalised.

Mr. President,

As we have heard today Sudan has become the world’s largest humanitarian, hunger and displacement crisis.

This is the result of unbearable international crimes and grave violations of international law including resolutions of this very Council. The level of brutality should shock the conscience of this Council and all Member States into action.

Allow me to raise three points.

First, there is no military solution to this conflict.

The war has reached a dynamic stalemate.  However, for Sudan’s civilians, this agony is anything but static, especially in the Kordofan, the current epicentre of violence. We strongly condemn the RSF’s continued assault in the region and call on both the SAF, the RSF and affiliated parties to halt the fighting.

Denmark condemns in the strongest terms, the systematic, deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure, including health facilities, and the proliferation of drone attacks.

Last week’s strikes on a mosque and primary schools in Kordofan are just some recent examples of the depravity of this violence.  It is unbearable that in 2026, one must restate that such attacks are prohibited and morally reprehensible.

We call upon all parties to the conflict to refrain from using starvation as a weapon of war. This is driven by deliberate attacks on humanitarian workers and the unlawful obstruction of humanitarian access at scale.

Against this backdrop, we thank Senior Advisor Boulos for leading the Quad’s efforts to achieve an immediate humanitarian truce, which is absolutely imperative, and which we hope can be followed by a process that paves the way to a political solution. We encourage the warring parties to engage constructively with the Quad.

We welcome the establishment of the AU-led Quintet to enhance coordination of mediation efforts and to facilitate and inter-Sudanese political process.

Second

As we heard from all our briefers today women and girls continue to bear the brunt of this cruelty, often subjected to widespread sexual and gender-based violence.

These persistent attacks are nothing less than a damning indictment on the perpetrators, but also on this Council and our mandate to protect the most vulnerable. We further recall that these acts may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. 

We call for full accountability for these crimes and call on all parties to cooperate with the International Criminal Court regarding the situation in Darfur as mandated by this Council.

Any political initiative or peace plan must integrate from the outset the specific needs and protection of women and children, and ensure their full meaningful and safe participation in shaping Sudan’s future.

Third, Mr. President,

The war is spilling across borders, forcing millions to flee and straining neighbouring host communities. 

External actors continue to finance, arm and resource the warring parties. They are complicit in this catastrophe.

We call on all states to immediately cease all forms of support and to uphold their obligations under international law, including on arms transfers in line with this Council’s arms embargo on Darfur, which we believe should be extended to Kordofan and all of Sudan.

In the face of such blatant disregard for the Council’s resolutions, we should be ready to use all tools at our disposal.

That includes additional restrictive measures against individuals and entities under an expanded 1591 sanctions regime.

It also includes setting out our demands to the warring parties. Clearly and forcefully, through a resolution.

Mr. President, in closing,

Our briefers today sounded clear calls for action. The time for political courage is now, both from the parties and from this Council.

Thank you.