New York/Port Sudan — With Sudan facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, including escalating conflict, rising hunger, and the highest level of child displacement in the world, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for urgent action to safeguard children and essential services on her visit to the country.
In Sudan, an estimated 10 million people have been displaced, half of them children. More than 30 million people require humanitarian assistance. Children trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, are especially vulnerable, where access to food, water and medical supplies remains practically cut off.
“Children in Sudan are living through unrelenting violence, hunger and fear,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Women and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis, including horrific levels of sexual violence. They need protection, services, and global solidarity.”
During her visit to Kassala, Russell met women and adolescent girls receiving psychosocial support and skills training at a UNICEF-supported centre. Many fled violence and found care and safety at the centre, but similar services are extremely limited in Darfur and Kordofan states due to ongoing insecurity.
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“I spoke to a girl named Nahed, who was just 16 when the war broke out, while she was visiting Khartoum to celebrate Eid with her family,” said Russell. “They fled, but the war followed. When armed men attacked her village, they started killing people, her grandfather and uncle among them, while girls were raped or taken. Nahed managed to escape but said it was terrifying. The chilling memories remain.”
In North Darfur, fighting in and around Al Fasher has forced more than 106,000 people to flee since late October, overwhelming reception sites and turning areas like Tawila into vast informal settlements. Newly displaced children arrive exhausted, dehydrated and in urgent need of protection, nutrition and medical support. UNICEF is there providing those services, but insecurity hampers the response.
Famine has been declared in parts of Darfur and Kordofan regions, with the risk of spreading. Families attempting to flee face dangerous routes, and those who reach safer areas often arrive severely malnourished, sick and distressed. Humanitarian agencies are often blocked by insecurity in delivering essential humanitarian supplies. Children in the frontline areas are often left without psychosocial care, support for survivors of gender-based violence, and other essential services.
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“I spoke with a young boy who had escaped Al Fasher and arrived to Kassala two weeks ago,” said Russell. “He told me of fear and violence in Al Fasher, and finally making an escape on foot with his family. But they were stopped along the way several times by armed men demanding money for their passage. He said it was incredibly scary.”
Despite severe access constraints, UNICEF is delivering across the country. Recent efforts include the identification and registration of unaccompanied and separated children, with more than 200 reunifications in North Darfur; gender-based violence assistance, including psychosocial care, referrals and cash support for survivors; and psychological support for thousands of children and caregivers in high-risk locations.
UNICEF has also restored access to safe water access for hundreds of thousands of people and is using mobile clinics and partner facilities to provide health and nutrition services, as well as responding to disease outbreaks, including cholera.
UNICEF is calling for an immediate end to the violence and for all parties to uphold international humanitarian law, ensuring the safety and dignity of every child and civilian. Safe and unhindered humanitarian access must be guaranteed, barriers to the movement of aid and personnel removed, and humanitarian workers protected. Increased flexible funding is urgently needed, particularly for child protection, gender-based violence and psychosocial support.
“Everywhere I went, children told me the same thing: ‘All we want for Sudan is peace,”‘ said Russell. “The world must do better to deliver on that wish.”
