April 15, 2026, marks three years since the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) plunged Sudan into a devastating war. The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) spoke with a Sudan-based program staff member at Invisible Children about what civilian protection looks like on the ground, and why local peacebuilders remain the last defense for millions of people. Invisible Children is an International non-governmental organization (INGO) that partners with local peacebuilders across central Africa to end violent conflict.
The Scale of the Crisis
Sudan is now home to the world’s largest displacement crisis. Since fighting erupted in April 2023, more than 11 million people have been displaced. In Darfur, the destruction is immense. El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, once home to nearly one million people, now holds fewer than 250,000 as the RSF forces have seized control and dismantled what remained of civil authority.
Violence has become part of people’s daily lives as the social and economic fabric has been completely destroyed.
For civilians in Darfur especially, the war is not fought between armies at a distance. Airstrikes, drone attacks, and mass sexual violence have made ordinary life impossible. Women and girls face the most acute danger, with gender-based violence (GBV) and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) used as weapons by both armed parties. In clinics Invisible Children supports across South Darfur, staff recorded fewer than 70 GBV and CRSV survivor cases in year one, roughly 100 in year two, and over 132 in the first quarter of year three alone. Violence has become part of people’s daily lives as the social and economic fabric has been completely destroyed.
Empowering the People Who Are Still There
Invisible Children’s Sudan programming is built on a core conviction: in places where governments have collapsed and international organizations cannot reach, local peacebuilders are the most powerful protection force available.
Invisible Children works by forming and training community-based peace committees. These committees are made up of local volunteers equipped to run early warning networks, document human rights abuses, defuse intercommunal tensions, and connect GBV survivors to clinical care. They are also resourced to rebuild social cohesion through soccer tournaments, cultural festivals, and community gatherings designed to counter hate speech and restore solidarity across divided communities.
Programs such as this one are not aid for the sake of aid.
Some committees have gone further. With small amounts of startup capital, groups have launched community Wi-Fi hotspot stations. The modest fees they charge then flow back into locally organized events and help to keep the projects running. In a region with no functioning public infrastructure, these are self-sustaining structures for connection, built and owned by the communities themselves.
Programs such as this one are not aid for the sake of aid. Funding local peacebuilders is among the most cost-effective, life-saving investments available, delivering protection, documentation, and social cohesion at a fraction of the cost of large-scale international operations.
A Growing Gap
Invisible Children currently operates in roughly 13 percent of localities in Darfur. The need is far greater, but the resources are not. Major international actors, including the World Food Programme, no longer have meaningful access to Darfur, leaving local organizations as the only support structure for millions of people.
As the need continues to grow, so does the danger for those local volunteers. As armed actors consolidate control and civil society organizations continue efforts to mitigate violence and support survivors, civil society members are increasingly perceived as threats, according to Invisible Children’s team.
What Can the U.S. Do?
U.S. policymakers have both an obligation and an opportunity. The stop-work order issued in early by the administration froze foreign assistance funding for numerous local peacebuilding organizations. In many places, these organizations are the only functioning civil society infrastructure remaining. Congress and the administration should revisit that order. Funding these local peacebuilders is not charity. It is among the most cost-effective, life-saving investments the U.S. can make.
Learn more about Invisible Children’s work in Sudan. Learn more about FCNL’s work on peacebuilding here.
