“The reality for children in Sudan is growing darker hour by hour,” Eva Hinds, spokeswoman for UNICEF, said last week as the country’s civil war entered its fourth year.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) after the collapse of a fragile transition following Sudan’s 2019 uprising, has spread across much of the country. Cities have been devastated and more than 13 million people displaced, the World Health Organization reported.
More than 4,300 children have been killed or maimed since the war began, UNICEF says, with Darfur and Kordofan states accounting for the highest numbers.
Children and women have been indiscriminately targeted. Ashan Abeywardena, emergency response manager at War Child, said the conflict has had a severe impact on minors: “Going through three years of conflict has had a massive impact on these children and women. Children’s daily lives are shaped by news of death and destruction.”
Many fatalities and injuries have been caused by drone attacks, a weapon increasingly used by both sides. “Drones are killing and wounding girls and boys in their homes, in markets, on the roads, near schools and health facilities — all places that should never be targets,” UNICEF’s Hinds told reporters. UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes in the first three months of this year.
Both the RSF and SAF have used drones to attack civilian infrastructure to slow opponents’ advances, destroying hospitals, roads and schools and worsening the civilian plight.
The humanitarian crisis is spilling across East Africa. DW Kenya correspondent Andrew Wasike said the war is no longer seen as contained: “In East Africa, the war is not just a distant conflict. It’s both a humanitarian catastrophe and a regional security problem.” Displacement, disrupted trade routes and political tensions are weighing on neighboring countries.
Despite the scale of suffering, Sudan has struggled to remain a global priority. Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said the country has effectively been abandoned. She documented widespread atrocities, including systematic sexual violence, sieges leaving communities facing famine, and mass killings, pointing to episodes such as the deadly fighting in el-Fasher last year when thousands were reportedly killed within days. “My question is, what is the world waiting for?” she asked, calling for the kind of global response seen in other major crises.
That call has drawn renewed attention in Berlin, where Germany hosted an international conference last week to raise funds for those affected by the war. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was hopeful more than $1 billion could be raised. He later announced that €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) had been pledged, following the $1 billion raised at last year’s donor conference in London.
This article has been adapted from an episode of DW’s AfricaLink podcast.