OSLO — The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms on Thursday, honouring the volunteer networks that sustained millions of civilians during the country's civil war.

The prize recognised grassroots mutual-aid committees that organised food kitchens, medical care and evacuations in areas abandoned by state authorities. Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said the volunteers had demonstrated courage and solidarity as fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces devastated Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan.

Sudan's war, which erupted in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands and driven more than 12 million people from their homes, according to United Nations estimates. The United Nations and aid agencies have repeatedly warned of famine conditions in El Fasher and other besieged areas, where the Emergency Response Rooms often served as the only functioning relief structure.

The award is likely to draw renewed international attention to a conflict that United Nations humanitarian officials have described as chronically underfunded and overshadowed by wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The committee's choice echoed earlier decisions to honour civil-society movements operating in zones of state collapse.

"These volunteers embody the best of humanity in the darkest of circumstances," Frydnes told reporters in Oslo, urging the warring parties to allow unimpeded humanitarian access across Sudan.