OSLO, Sept 17, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs), networks of volunteers risking their lives to feed and help people facing war and famine in the country, were on Wednesday awarded Norway's Rafto Prize for human rights work.

Already one of the world's poorest countries, Sudan has been ravaged by a deadly war since April 2023 between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), each side led by generals vying for power.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and driven more than 14 million from their homes, according to figures from the United Nations.

The UN has called it "the world's worst humanitarian crisis", where famine has spread in parts of the country and cholera has affected large areas.

The Rafto Foundation honoured the ERRs "for their courageous work to preserve the most fundamental human right -- the right to life".

Shortly after the first shots of the conflict rang out, a surge of solidarity emerged in the country that has no functioning state, infrastructure or basic services.

Despite meagre resources, neighbourhood volunteers quickly set up self-funded "community kitchens" to feed their neighbours, at times going door-to-door.

The movement also provides civilians with healthcare and evacuation help.

- 'Innovative aid efforts' -

The ERRs rose out of the resistance committees that organised pro-democracy protests during the revolution that ended the reign of dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

The movement now counts thousands of volunteers.

The ERRs "save lives and maintain human dignity in a place of misery and despair", the Rafto Foundation said.

"Their innovative mutual aid efforts through citizen participation contribute to developing a civil society and is essential to building a better future," it added.

With communications cut frequently and few journalists on the ground, the volunteers also play a key role in documenting attacks on civilians.

Regarded with suspicion by the two rival camps, some volunteers have been killed, raped, beaten or had their aid pillaged, according to witness accounts to AFP.

The Rafto Foundation, citing media reports, said more than 100 volunteers had been killed since the beginning of the conflict.

It urged the two sides to agree to "a ceasefire and an end to the fighting in Sudan and for protection of civilian lives for Sudan".

"We call on the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces to respect international humanitarian law and protect humanitarian relief workers," it added.

First awarded in 1987 and named after Norwegian historian and human rights activist Thorolf Rafto, the prize comes with $20,000.

It has previously been given to four people -- Aung San Suu Kyi, Jose Ramos-Horta, Kim Dae-Jung and Shirin Ebadi -- who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize, also awarded in Norway.

The winner of that prize will be announced on October 10 in Oslo.