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UN calls it a war economy
The United Nations said on Wednesday that Sudan’s rival factions are profiting from control over the country’s resources, and that a growing "war economy" is sustaining the conflict.
The UN human rights office said the warring sides rely on territory, trade routes and commodities to fund the rising cost of military operations, contributing to a conflict it described as "increasingly self-perpetuating."
The war between Sudan’s regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023, and the UN said it has killed 200,000 people by some estimates and displaced more than 11 million others.
The OHCHR report focused on the trade in gum arabic, a key ingredient in products ranging from soft drinks to cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and said Sudan accounted for 70% to 80% of global crude gum arabic exports before the war.
The UN human rights chief Volker Turk said, "Sudan's vast wealth of natural resources should benefit its people," while calling for the two sides and companies involved in collecting and selling Sudanese commodities to ensure compliance with international law.
Gum arabic trade and abuses
The UN said the gum arabic trade has been reshaped by the fragmentation of Sudan since the war began, with gum arabic from areas controlled by the armed forces sent toward Port Sudan for export and significant quantities from RSF-controlled areas redirected to neighboring countries through cross-border smuggling routes.
The report found that many people who depend on the gum arabic trade have faced looting, extortion, arbitrary detention and threats, particularly by the parties to the conflict and their allies.
In May 2025, the Gum Arabic Exchange and its warehouses, along with part of the local market in el-Nuhud in West Kordofan state, were reportedly looted by the RSF when stocks were full and ready for export, severely disrupting local trade and livelihoods.
Volker Turk urged countries and companies linked to trade in Sudanese commodities, including gum arabic, to ensure their business was not fueling the conflict or harming human rights, saying, "Companies cannot continue business as usual when sourcing from conflict-affected value chains."
The report warned that gum may then be processed and traded as locally produced, making its origin difficult to verify, and urged stronger accountability, traceability and regulatory oversight.
Pressure on supply chains
The UN called on the parties to the war and corporations involved in the value chain of Sudanese commodities to ensure compliance with international law, linking the war economy to the continuation of the conflict.
Euronews said OHCHR urged countries to strengthen accountability, traceability and regulatory oversight and respect human rights, while quoting Volker Türk warning that the conflict economy must be disrupted.
Türk said, "This war economy must be disrupted, and the international community must pay much closer attention to the commodities and trade routes that help keep it alive."
The report also urged heightened, conflict-sensitive human rights due diligence, including stronger scrutiny of routes, intermediaries, documentation and possible relabeling, as it warned that trade from conflict-affected value chains can undermine human rights.
In the same UN framing, the OHCHR report described how the gum arabic trade exposes global supply chains to serious human rights risks, warning that the conflict has become "increasingly self-perpetuating" as revenues are generated through controlling territory, trade routes and commodities.
