UNICEF / SUDAN AL FASHER ZAMZAM IDP

Grave violations against children have surged across Sudan’s Darfur states since the start of the year, with 110 violations verified in North Darfur alone and a staggering 83 per cent increase in child casualties in Sudan compared to the first quarter of 2024. UNICEF

• Video Length: 00:02:24
• Production Date: 27 March 2025
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICTS
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN
• MAMS Id: 3355776
• Parent Id: 3355776
• Alternate Title: unifeed250327f

Description

STORY: UNICEF / SUDAN AL FASHER ZAMZAM IDP
TRT: 2:28
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGAUGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 21 MARCH 2025, TAWILA, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN

Shotlist

1. Wide shot, mothers and babies entering the compound of Konjara health centre
2. Med shot, IDPs are entering the medical center, where they receive medical services, including malnutrition screenings
3. Med shot, health workers and volunteers preparing and distributing ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) sachets to parents and caregivers
4. Med shot, health workers and volunteers preparing and distributing ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) sachets to parents and caregivers
5. Wide shot, parents and caregivers await health services from a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic.
6. Med shot, health workers register patients during a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
7. Med shot, Health workers register patients during a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
8. Wide shot, people wait to receive services from a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
9. Wide shot, people wait to receive services from a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
10. Wide shot, health workers register patients during a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
11. Med shot, health workers distribute sachets of nutrition supplements to parents and caregivers inside a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
12. Med shot, children are being screened for their nutritional status using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape
13. Med shot, a child at the camp is taking a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF)
14. Med shot, a child is being screened for their nutritional status using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape
15. Close up, a child is being screened for their nutritional status using the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape
16. Wide shot, health workers register people during a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic
17. Med shot, health workers register people during a UNICEF-supported mobile clinic

Storyline

Grave violations against children have surged across Sudan’s Darfur states since the start of the year, with 110 violations verified in North Darfur alone and a staggering 83 per cent increase in child casualties in Sudan compared to the first quarter of 2024.

In Al Fasher, North Darfur, more than 70 children have been killed or maimed in less than three months. Since early 2025, intense shelling and airstrikes in the Zamzam camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), have resulted in 16 per cent of all verified child casualties in Al Fasher.

“An estimated 825,000 children are trapped in a growing catastrophe in and around Al Fasher,” said UNICEF Representative for Sudan, Sheldon Yett. “With these numbers reflecting only verified incidents, it is likely the true toll is far higher, with children in a daily struggle to survive. Death is a constant threat for children, whether due to the fighting around them or the collapse of the vital services they rely on to survive.”

More than 60,000 people have been newly displaced in North Darfur in just 6 weeks, adding to the more than 600,000 people displaced between April 2024, when the violence escalated, and January 2025 – including 300,000 children. An estimated 900,000 people remain in Al Fasher and 750,000 in Zamzam camp trapped by active conflict. Half of them are children.

All access routes are blocked. The Tawila-Zamzam road, once a vital link, is now impassable given the complete collapse in security. Armed groups are targeting rural villages and insecurity has made delivery of aid and commercial goods nearly impossible. Communities face alarming shortages of water, food, medicine, and nutrition supplies. Food prices have nearly doubled in three months.

Malnutrition is rife. North Darfur has more than 457,000 acutely malnourished children, including nearly 146,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) – the deadliest form. Six localities within the state are at risk of famine, all among the worst-affected by violence and access constraints.

UNICEF delivered ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), and other lifesaving supplies to Al Fasher three months ago, but these stocks are now depleted. Repeated efforts by UNICEF and partners to deliver more supplies have been unsuccessful given threats from armed fighters and criminal gangs. In Zamzam, 2,300 children with severe acute malnutrition are currently being treated but RUTF stocks will be depleted within the next three weeks.

UNICEF estimates 500,000 children are at immediate risk if supplies cannot be delivered.
UNICEF calls on all parties to facilitate safe, unimpeded humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach children in Al Fasher, Zamzam and other affected areas.