Attachments
Highlights
• The first 100 days of the conflict have had a devastating impact on children and families. Without concerted action, including the commitment of parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and uphold international law, severe violations of children’s rights will only worsen.
• Almost 14 million children, are in need of humanitarian assistance. Over 3.3 million people have fled their homes (half of whom are children), including 757,000 crossing borders.
• Delivery of humanitarian assistance is essential to protect the Sudanese people and children from the impact of conflict. Denial of humanitarian access, targeting of aid workers, ongoing looting and bureaucratic impediments, including travel permits and visa limitations, are hampering assistance.
• Since the conflict began, UNICEF has reached over 3 million children and women with health supplies, 1.7 million children with malnutrition screening, 300,000 women and their families with cash assistance, and 100,000 children and caregivers with protection support through over 400 safe spaces established across Sudan.
• Over the next 100 days, UNICEF urgently needs US$400 million to sustain and scale its crisis response to support the most vulnerable children. As of mid-July, the UNICEF US$838 million Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) 2023 appeal is only 9 per cent funded.
• The cost of inaction is unacceptably high – close to 14 million children will not receive the essential services they require to survive and thrive, including 1.7 million children under 1 at risk of not receiving life-saving vaccines.
Situation in Numbers
13.6 million children in need of humanitarian assistance
24.7 million people in need (OCHA, Revised HRP May 2023)
1.7 million Children displaced (IDPs and crossing borders)
9.4 million children targeted by UNICEF response in Sudan
Funding Overview and Partnerships
The conflict in Sudan is a deepening children’s crisis severely putting at risk the future of the country and heavily affecting the wider region.
Necessary funding must be mobilized and committed to the relief efforts to sustain and scale-up our support to the children, their families, and communities in Sudan. As of mid-July, the UNICEF US$838 million Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) 2023 appeal to reach around 12 million people, including 9.4 million of the most vulnerable children in Sudan is only 9 per cent funded. Over the next 100 days, UNICEF urgently requires US$400 million to sustain and scale up critical life-saving health, nutrition, water, sanitation, learning and protection assistance to the most vulnerable children caught in this crisis. Flexibility in managing committed and additional funding is critical in this complex and quickly evolving context to sustain essential social services for vulnerable children and families across Sudan.
The cost of inaction is unacceptably high and Sudan’s future is at stake. Close to 14 million children will not receive the essential services they require to survive and thrive: 690,000 children with severe acute malnutrition are at high risk of not surviving without treatment; 1.7 million children under-one risk missing critical lifesaving vaccinations to protect them and their families and communities from disease outbreaks; a generation of children will miss out on education; and millions of boys and girls will lack a sense of safety and psycho-social well-being.
Without an immediate and extensive crisis response, the consequences of displacement, lack of basic social services, and protection will have devastating, long-term effects on children, and therewith the future of Sudan, the region, and globally. All efforts must focus on stopping the war, stopping the killing of civilians/children, stopping the destruction of civilian infrastructure. UNICEF is calling on all partners and friends of Sudan to:
1 . Protect the rights of children caught in the middle of this devastating crisis in Sudan
2 . Advocate for unimpeded humanitarian access
3 . Advocate for alleviation of bureaucratic impediments
4 . Advocate for necessary funding to be committed to sustain and scale-up our support to the children, their families, and communities in Sudan.
UNICEF Sudan would like to sincerely thank the donors supporting its humanitarian response in Sudan, in 2023, by the European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), the governments of the United States of America, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Kuwait, Japan, France, as well as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Education Cannot Wait (ECW),
Central Emergency Response Funds (CERF), and UNICEF National Committees.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has now continued for 100 days, with violence reported in the Blue Nile, Darfur, Khartoum and Kordofan states. In the recent weeks, fighting has involved various branches of Sudanese People's Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N) in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, thereby worsening the humanitarian crisis.
Sudan is faced with a catastrophic humanitarian crisis which is projected to deteriorate further if fighting does not immediately stop, pushing the already vulnerable, including millions of children whose lives are threatened daily, into a further state of desperation. Half of Sudan’s population – more than 24.7 million people, almost 14 million of whom are children – are in need of humanitarian assistance. Over 3.3 million people have fled their homes, 757,000 of whom have crossed borders. The majority of displaced people have come from Khartoum state (73 per cent or 1.9 million), followed by West Darfur (8 per cent), North Darfur (7 per cent), South Darfur (6 per cent) and Central Darfur (5 per cent). The highest IDP recipient states are River Nile (427,895); Northern State (358,645); White Nile (267,899); Al Jazirah (211,760); and Sennar (211,011).
As the conflict in Sudan passes 100-days, UNICEF has received credible reports that at least 2,500 children have been killed (435) or injured (2,025). This is an average of at least one child injured or killed every hour since fighting started on April 15. These are just the cases reported to UNICEF sources. The true extent is likely to be far higher and a grim reminder of day-to-day impact of the conflict on children.
This is in addition to other severe violations of children’s rights, including abduction, recruitment into armed groups, attacks on hospitals, occupation of schools and denial of humanitarian access. An estimated 68 per cent of hospitals in the worst-affected areas have had to suspend service and another 17 per cent are estimated to have been bombed.
Several more hospitals are believed to have been turned into military bases and there have been repeated reports of ambulances coming under attack.