The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday that an estimated three million children in Sudan’s Jazeera state are at risk due to escalating violence. The agency also said that at least 150,000 children in the state have been displaced and are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.
In a statement, UNICEF said that “the escalation of fighting in Sudan’s Jazeera state has forced at least 150,000 children to flee their homes in less than a week.” The agency added that “the outbreak of fighting in Jazeera means that more than half of Sudan’s states – 10 out of 18 – are experiencing active conflict.”
UNICEF estimated that about 5.9 million people, nearly half of whom are children, live in Jazeera state. The agency said that “tens of thousands of the most vulnerable children in Jazeera state have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety as fighting broke out in areas that were previously relatively safe.”
UNICEF also said that about 500,000 people have fled violence in other parts of the country to Jazeera state since the war in Sudan erupted on April 15. Of those, about 90,000 have sought refuge in the state capital, Wad Madani.
According to UNICEF, the escalation of fighting has led to the suspension of all humanitarian field missions within and from Jazeera state as of December 15, 2023. This has had a disproportionate impact on children and families.
On Wednesday, Osman Shibe, UNICEF’s field director for the Red Sea and Nile River states, warned that the situation for children in Sudan has become “dire and very bad.” He added that health disasters are widespread in the country, including cholera and dengue fever. He also said that the health system is on the verge of collapse.
The World Food Programme (WFP) also announced on Wednesday that it was suspending food assistance temporarily in parts of Jazeera state due to the widening scope of the fighting.
The fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces that erupted in April has killed more than 9,000 people and displaced more than 6 million people inside and outside Sudan, according to UN estimates.
UNICEF’s statement said that Sudan is experiencing “the world’s largest child displacement crisis.”
