UNICEF: Sudan’s war has displaced five million children
Three siblings who were displaced during the war, fled to Chad (via International Rescue Committee)
Sudan’s civil war has displaced an estimated five million children, making it one of the world’s largest child displacement crises, according to UNICEF. The UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, visited Sudan and brought attention to this situation, Africanews reported on December 11th.
Children are seemingly most affected in conflicts, with Sudan’s army and the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF) wrestling for power in Sudan’s civil war since 2023.
During her visit, Russell visited a boys’ school in Kassala State and called for urgent attention for the safety of children. Displaced children in besieged and hard-to-reach areas—particularly in Darfur and Kordofan—are especially vulnerable, facing limited access to food, water, or medical supplies.
The UN is attempting to aid the situation by identifying and registering unaccompanied and separated children, having already reunited over 200 of them in the North Darfur region. It is also providing child protection, psychological support, training, and cash assistance to affected communities. It is also working towards restoring clean water and medical clinics.
Many families have attempted to flee the violence and take refuge in the UN’s safety centres, but the routes they embark on are extremely dangerous, and ones who manage to flee turn up malnourished and distressed. During her visit, the UNICEF Director also visited the As-Senniya site for internally displaced people in Port Sudan, where UNICEF has aid programmes.
Last year, about 49,000 cases of cholera were reported in Sudan, and more than 11,000 cases of dengue fever, of which 60% were affecting children and mothers.
The recent attack in Kordofan has also directly affected children, with updated figures saying at least 63 children were killed in a kindergarten.
Reports indicate that more than 30 million people require urgent humanitarian assistance, with women and children being most adversely affected by the war. The UNICEF Director also met with young girls and women who have dealt with sexual violence as an act of war.
UNICEF has urged for an end to the violence for “ensuring the safety and dignity of every child and civilian.”
UNICEF, Africanews, Maghrebi.org
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