More than two million children displaced by Sudan war: UNICEF

August 24, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The conflict in Sudan has displaced over 2 million children, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.

It said fighting between the Sudanese army (SAF) and military rival the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April, has displaced 1.7 million children within the country while more than 470,000 have fled across the border to safety.

Mandeep O’Brien, the UNICEF County Representative in Sudan said “the urgency of our collective response cannot be overstated,” citing the countless numbers of children trapped by the violence in Sudan.

“We are hearing unimaginable stories from children and families, some of whom lost everything and had to watch their loved ones die in front of their eyes. We said it before, and we are saying it again: we need peace now for children to survive,” she added.

UNICEF urged the warring parties to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of children, ensure their protection and enable unimpeded humanitarian access to affected areas.

The children agency recently warned that currently, 14 million children in Sudan are in dire need of humanitarian support, noting that many of these boys and girls are facing multiple threats and terrifying experiences every day.

Apart from conflict hotspots like Darfur and the capital, Khartoum, the heavy fighting has now spread to other populated areas, including in South and West Kordofan states, which is hampering aid delivery and access to people in urgent need.

Humanitarians have estimated that 20.3 million people in Sudan will be food insecure between July and September, based on the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report for the country. As a result, the health and nutrition status of close to 10 million children is expected to worsen.

Currently, nearly 9.5 million children in Sudan lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.4 million under-fives are at high risk of diarrhoeal diseases and cholera.

In Khartoum and the Darfur and Kordofan regions, less than one-third of health facilities are fully functional, UNICEF said, further adding that insecurity and displacement are also preventing patients and health workers from reaching hospitals, with many facilities reportedly being attacked and destroyed.

Meanwhile UNICEF said it urgently requires $400 million to scale up support in Sudan.

(ST)