Sudan is facing a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. 14 million children lack food, safe water, shelter and medical care. They urgently need humanitarian aid.
The situation
On April 15, 2023, clashes erupted between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum and quickly spread to other areas. As a consequence, millions of people were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter. Many were killed or injured. Around 24.8 million people – half the population of Sudan – urgently need humanitarian assistance.
Even before the outbreak of war, humanitarian needs across Sudan were at record levels. For years, millions of people have been internally displaced and living in refugee camps and emergency shelters. The armed conflict has plunged Sudan into the greatest refugee crisis in the world. More than 8 million people, nearly 4 million of them children, had to leave their homes at least once.
“The lethal combination of malnutrition, mass displacement, and disease is growing by the day, and we have an extremely short window to prevent a massive loss of life.”
The current conflict is worsening the already precarious situation for children. Families in Sudan lack food, safe drinking water, medical supplies, fuel and shelter. Sudan also has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world for children under the age of five. That includes 690,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition and in urgent need of lifesaving assistance. However, violent clashes in these conflict hotspots are impeding access to health and nutrition services. Host community resources in Sudan have been exhausted, the health care system is overwhelmed, and overcrowded emergency shelters are experiencing outbreaks of diseases like measles.
The violence and displacement have had severe psychosocial impacts on the health and future of these children. Without immediate assistance, 19 million children will not attend school this year and 4.3 million urgently needing protection will not be reached.
How your donation helps
Despite the dangerous security situation throughout the country, UNICEF is working to help children and their families in Sudan. Working closely with partners on the ground, we are striving to get to even hard-to-reach regions and provide vital aid.
In 2023, your support enabled UNICEF and its partners to
- provide medical supplies to 6.4 million children and families;
- provide 5.9 million people with safe drinking water;
- examine 5.4 million infants for malnutrition and provide lifesaving medicines to over 300,000 children with SAM;
- provide psychosocial support, educational programs and protection to over 870,000 children and their caregivers.