One in two children in the line of fire in Sudan, says aid agency

April 9, 2024 (KHARTOUM) – More than 10 million children in Sudan have been in an active warzone and less than five kilometres away from gunfire, shelling and other deadly violence over the past year of war, analysis show.

Analysis by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) on behalf of Save the Children found that one in two children in Sudan are currently or have been within five kilometers of the frontlines of the conflict within the last year, leaving them exposed to gunfire, shelling, airstrikes and other violence.

This, it noted, is a 60% increase from the already 6.6 million children exposed to violence in the first month of the fighting, and shows how the conflict has continued to increase in scale and scope across the country.

The aid agency said leaders meeting in Paris next week to discuss the crisis in Sudan must do all in their power to improve humanitarian access, protect children and stave off famine as fierce fighting continues to turn the lives of millions of children upside down.

Leaders also need to urgently increase funding, with 95% of funds still lacking in the international humanitarian response.

The new joint analysis shows that since fighting erupted in Khartoum on 15 April 2023, over 10 million children have been exposed to battles, bombings, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks, mortar and missile attacks, and direct attacks on civilians.

They will have witnessed or have suffered devastating injury, death, displacement, psychological harm and the destruction of their homes and communities.

The majority of violent events since April 2023 have occurred in the more populated locations of Sudan including towns and cities of over 100,000 people exposing many children to traumatizing violence repeatedly.

According to ACLED’s analysis, around 5 million children have repeatedly been in the vicinity of such violence in the last year.

“These findings show how dangerously close to death and injury so many children in Sudan have been over the past year of war. Children in Sudan have suffered unimaginably — they have seen killings, massacres, bullet-littered streets, dead bodies and shelled homes while they live with the all-too-real fear that they themselves could be killed, injured, recruited to fight or subject to sexual violence. Although the UN Security Council recently called for a ceasefire, fighting continues, with millions of children caught in the crossfire,” said Dr. Arif Noor, Country Director for Save the Children in Sudan.

“The situation has reached boiling point. Millions more children do not have access to adequate food, 3.8 million are malnourished and thousands of others risk death from disease as the country’s health system has all but collapsed. Not a single child has been able to go to school over the past year. No child should have to go through what those in Sudan have been experiencing,” he added.

“Over 10 million children have been repeatedly exposed to deadly violence across Sudan since hostilities began in April 2023. This staggering figure is the highest rate number of children exposed in the world and is equivalent to the total population of children in Germany. The future of Sudanese children is being callously sacrificed within a power contest that disregards the suffering and consequences endured by the Sudanese people. A year into the conflict, this trajectory ensures that more children, families and communities will be harmed and killed in the months to come,”  noted Clionadh Raleigh, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACLED.

According to the UN, the number of children exposed to the deadly conflict has increased as fighting has spread to more parts of the country including Al-Jazirah, which was once Sudan’s breadbasket.

The intensity of the conflict has led to the displacement of four million children – the highest number in the world, while 230,000 children and new mothers are likely to die from hunger without critical action.

Over 15,200 people, likely a large underestimate, including children have been killed, while thousands more have been injured.

So far, the UN’s humanitarian response plan is reportedly just 5% funded, with over $2.5bn shortfall.

Last year, Save the Children said it directly reached 2.1 million people, with 1.5 million of them children, with programming focused on child protection, access to quality education, health and nutrition support and responding to emergencies.

(ST)