Rare images of Sudan war reap Africa laurels in 2026 World Press Photo Contest

Syrian-French photojournalist Abdulmonam Eassa has been named as one of the winners in the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, for emotive images captured in Sudan while covering the war for the French magazine Le Monde, making him eligible to win the 2026 World Press Photo of the Year.

The Damacus-based Syrian-French photojournalist Abdulmonam Eassa has been named as the regional winner for Africa on the ‘Stories’ category of the 2026 World Press Photo Contest, which recognises and celebrates the best photojournalism and documentary photography produced over the last year, “connecting the world to the stories that matter by presenting the outstanding work of photojournalists and documentary photographers from across the globe”.

Eassa’s winning entry is a set of four images taken in Sudan, while covering a series of features for the French magazine Le Monde entitled: War in Sudan: A Trapped Nation. Frontline images like this are rare, due to heavily restricted access for journalists.

In a portrait (see main picture), Alhaja Abdallah, a displaced woman from Bara, shows her scars from a fire at El Mohad camp. Pictures from Sudan’s second most populous city Omdurman, shows how students take exams at the war-damaged Omdurman Islamic University. Another image shows a group of soldiers passing through a damaged market in Omdurman, while a fourth shows a soldier descending from a building during fighting.

The category winners were announced by organisers World Press Photo in Amsterdam today. Entries were judged first by six independent regional juries, and the winners were then chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.

The regional contest model, launched in 2021, supports a greater diversity of stories and storytellers from around the world. This year, 31 out of the 42 winners are local to the region they have photographed. Compared to the 2025 Contest, there were 11per cent more entrants from South America, and 14 per cent more entrants from Asia-Pacific and Oceania. Women and non-binary photographers also made up 22 per cent of contest entries. This reflects a steady increase since the regional contest model was introduced, World Press Photo says.

Previous winners

In 2025, A picture by Sudanese photographer Mosab Abushama, taken using just a mobile phone, was selected as one of the regional winners for Africa. The picture, entitled Life Won’t Stop, shows a bridegroom at his wedding in Omdurman, and illustrates how life in Sudan goes on, “despite the clashes and random shelling in the city”.

In 2022, Sudanese photographer Faiz Abubakr Mohamed was named as the winner in the ‘singles’ category for Africa, with a picture of a woman protestor hurling a teargas cannister back at riot police during the pro-democracy protests in 2021.

In 2020, an image by Japanese Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba of a young man, illuminated by mobile phones, reciting protest poetry while demonstrators chant slogans calling for civilian rule during a blackout in Khartoum on June 19 2019, was named as World Press Photo of the Year, and created worldwide awareness of the plight, struggle, and indomitable spirit of the Sudanese people.

The overall winner of the 2026 World Press Photo of the Year and two finalists will be announced online and at a live press opening of the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2026 at De Nieuwe Kerk, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 23 April. The awarded stories will be shown to millions of people as part of the annual World Press Photo traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world.