The number of children in Sudan requiring humanitarian assistance has alarmingly doubled to over 15 million since the conflict began in 2023, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported Tuesday.
This surge from 7.8 million underscores a rapidly deteriorating situation for the nation’s youngest population.
UNICEF warned that without immediate intervention, Sudan’s dire crisis risks descending into a greater catastrophe.
Violence, escalating hunger, and spreading disease are fueling the crisis, compounded by worsening displacement and dwindling aid access.
The approaching rainy season threatens to exacerbate the situation with potential floods and increased malnutrition.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell emphasized that two years of conflict have shattered millions of children’s lives, with needs far exceeding available humanitarian funding.
Reaching malnourished and sick children will become increasingly challenging with the onset of the rains, Russell stressed, urging the international community for immediate support.
Sudan is currently facing the world’s “largest” humanitarian crisis and child displacement emergency, with children comprising half of the 30 million people needing aid and over half of the 15 million displaced.
Alarmingly, grave violations against children have spread across more than half of Sudan’s states.