The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has sounded the alarm on an escalating crisis in Sudan, reporting this Sunday that the country has recorded the highest number of displaced children globally. Nearly 3 million children have been forcibly displaced amidst the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese military and Rapid Support Forces over the last seven months.
UNICEF took to Twitter, formerly known as platform X, to issue an urgent plea for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan. The organization warned that further escalation of the war would force even more children to flee their homes, exposing them to risks of violence, mistreatment, and exploitation.
Just last week, UNICEF and the World Health Organization reported a severe crisis, with 700,000 children under five in Sudan suffering from severe acute malnutrition and facing a life-threatening situation unless they receive urgent care. Both organizations highlighted that “100,000 children require life-saving treatment due to medical complications from severe acute malnutrition.”
Sudan is currently grappling with the world’s largest internally displaced population, according to the UN agencies. The lack of access to food, safe drinking water, clean environments, healthcare, and numerous other essential services has left them vulnerable to death from childbirth complications, low immunization rates, and disease outbreaks, with malnutrition rates rapidly escalating.
The two organizations predict that “at least 10,000 children under the age of five could die by the end of this year due to increased food insecurity and disruption of basic services since the conflict erupted in Sudan—more than 20 times the official number of children of all ages killed by the fighting.”
Since April 15, the conflict between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces has resulted in over 9,000 deaths, with around 6 million people displaced within the country or to neighboring nations, according to the United Nations. The war has devastated the already fragile infrastructure, closed 80% of the country’s hospitals, and pushed millions to the brink of starvation. The UN states that over half of the population now requires humanitarian assistance for survival.
UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, Mandeep O’Brien, emphasized the urgency of providing health and nutrition services to mothers, newborns, and children in a country where nearly 14 million children urgently need humanitarian support, yet services have been decimated in some regions.
Naeema Saeed Abed, WHO’s representative in Sudan, highlighted that “primary healthcare is out of reach for millions of Sudanese at a time when they need it most.”
Outbreak of Diseases:
On Saturday, Sudan’s Ministry of Health announced the death of 122 people due to cholera and dengue fever between July 15 and October 27. Millions of children are exposed to various diseases such as cholera, dengue fever, measles, and malaria, while the healthcare system is under tremendous pressure due to attacks and fighting, according to WHO and UNICEF.
To “facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid,” “achieve a ceasefire, and implement confidence-building measures,” and “create the potential for a permanent cessation of hostilities,” talks have commenced in Jeddah between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces, as per a statement from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.
