Sudanese children face forced recruitment, sexual violence in war, official says

September 22, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Children in Sudan have been subjected to widespread violations during the country’s conflict, including sexual violence and forced recruitment, a government minister said on Monday.

Salimi Ishaq, State Minister at the Ministry of Social Welfare, told Sudan Tribune that her ministry had documented 269 children subjected to sexual violence. Women and children have been the most affected groups in the conflict, with even infants not spared, according to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF.

Ishaq accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of forcibly recruiting 9,000 children.

Her statement follows a September 20 report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which said the RSF has forcibly recruited children in Darfur. The UN also reported that Colombian mercenaries are training youths in guerrilla warfare tactics for the RSF, particularly in South Darfur.

Since the war began, more than 10,000 school-aged children have been displaced, Ishaq said.

She stated that approximately 40,000 people have lost limbs in the fighting, including up to 10,000 children.

Ishaq attributed the high rate of child abuse to the collapse of protection systems and children being out of school.

“Large numbers of children are separated from their families, and many have been smuggled or stolen by human trafficking gangs during the war,” she added.

The United Nations has also documented RSF fighters raping women in front of their children, a tactic it says is used to humiliate and control communities.