The Cost of Inaction in Sudan: Catastrophic Loss of Children's Lives
Tens of thousands of Sudanese children may die over the coming months, UNICEF warns.
Sudan's crisis of neglect
Thousands of children have been killed or injured in Sudan's war, sexual violence is increasing, and famine — already confirmed in one displacement camp — threatens to spread into 13 other areas, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder warned Tuesday.
"Experts do not give projections for mortality, but the current situation necessitates that governments with influence, and donors, acknowledge the following: [that] without action, tens of thousands of Sudanese children may die over the coming months. Tens of thousands. And that is by no means a worst-case scenario."
Tens of thousands of Sudanese children may die over the coming months ... And that is by no means a worst-case scenario. — James Elder, UNICEF Spokesperson
Elder further noted that, in addition to being the biggest humanitarian crisis for children in the world, it is also a crisis of neglect. "So many of the countless atrocities upon children in Sudan have gone unreported, often as a result of very limited access," he said.
5 million children displaced by conflict in Sudan — many of them multiple times
Five million children — an average of 10,000 per day — have been forced to flee their homes, a statistic that also makes Sudan the world's largest child displacement crisis. Many have been displaced multiple times.
On Aug. 2, famine was confirmed at the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people, by the Famine Review Committee — the first such determination in more than seven years and the third time since the monitoring system was created 20 years ago.
Across the 13 other areas considered on the brink of famine, 143,000 children are already suffering from severe acute malnutrition, the most lethal form, and disease is a constant worry.
"Any disease outbreak will see mortality skyrocket," Elder said. "Disease is our great fear. If there is a measles outbreak, or diarrhea or respiratory infections — remembering that in the current living conditions, and with heavy rains and flooding, these diseases spread like wildfire — the terrifying outlook for children in Sudan dramatically worsens."
Elder arrived in Sudan late last week to report on the situation firsthand. On Saturday, a local boy’s football team was playing at a UNICEF child-friendly space in Khartoum state when a shell hit the football field. Two boys were killed, including the team's captain and youngest player, who was hit by shrapnel. Almost the entire team was injured.
Yesterday, Elder met with a senior medical worker. "She explained she had direct contact with hundreds of women and girls, some as young as 8, who have been raped. Many were held captive for weeks on end. She also spoke of the distressing number of babies, born after rape, who are being abandoned."
UNICEF is calling for:
- unimpeded and safe humanitarian access using all routes, across lines of conflict — particularly Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan and through Sudan’s borders
- all parties to respect international humanitarian and human rights law
- a massive scale-up in donor funding so that frontline workers can be paid, and lifesaving supplies procured and critical infrastructure maintained — preventing the collapse of essential systems
- an immediate ceasefire
“By turning a blind eye to Sudan, and by ignoring immense suffering, the warring parties and the international community continue a dangerous precedent for global apathy towards children," Elder said.
UNICEF has been in Sudan delivering emergency assistance to children and families in need since the beginning of the conflict. So far in 2024, UNICEF and partners have reached 5 million children and families with safe drinking water, more than 3 million people with critical health supplies and another 3 million with malnutrition screening. UNICEF continues to move lifesaving nutrition supplies — across conflict lines and across borders.
"Operations [are] sufficient to treat 215,000 severely malnourished children," Elder said. "Imagine what UNICEF and partners can do with more access."
Learn more about how UNICEF is helping children in Sudan.
More funding is needed to scale up UNICEF's emergency response to the crisis in Sudan. Please donate today.
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War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
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