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UN PhotoUNICEF / SUDAN DARFUR CHILDREN CRISIS
STORY: UNICEF / SUDAN DARFUR CHILDREN CRISIS
TRT: 03:30
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: FILE – UNDATED, DARFUR, SUDAN
1. Wide shot, women and children gathering with one woman walking by
2. Close up, children looking into the camera
3. Close up, mothers carrying their children
4. Wide shot, mothers sitting on the ground with their children
5. Med shot, children and caregivers seated next their luggage
6. Wide shot, woman walking away with a bucket of water on her shoulder
7. Wide shot, children and women queue for water
8. Wide shot, children and adults walking about inside the camp
9. Close up, a mother cooking a meal in the open next to her child
10. Close up, a young girl mingling food in a pot
11. Close up, a young girl serving food on a metallic plate
12. Wide shot, UNICEF vehicles moving on a rough terrain
13. Wide shot, children pumping water from a borehole
14. Close up, water pouring into a container as children pump the borehole
15. Med shot, children pumping water from a borehole
16. Med shot, a mother lying down with her child admitted and receiving treatment for severe malnutrition in a stabilization centre
17. Close up, a severely malnourished children admitted in a stabilization centre looking straight in the camera
18. Various shots, mothers with their children queue for nutrition supplements
19. Med shot, a pregnant woman is screened for malnutrition during the door-to-door nutrition campaign
20. Wide shot, a mother feeds her child with a nutrition supplement
21. Med shot, a health worker distributing nutrition supplements
22. Close up, Health worker screening a child for malnutrition using a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) tape
23. Wide shot, Health worker screening a child for malnutrition using a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference 24. (MUAC) tape
25. Wide shot, displaced families sitting outside while children play about
26. Wide shot, children walk past a UNICEF tent in a displacement camp
27. Close up, a mother prepares a meal close to her makeshift shelter in a displacement camp as her children look on
28. Med shot, children sitting inside makeshift shelters made of sticks and apparel in a displacement camp
29. Close up, child looking at the mother
30. Wide shot, People ferry boxes of ready-to-use-therapeutic food across the river
31. Wide shot, UN car drives through a flooded road past people standing in the water
32. Wide and medium shots: children engaging in drawing and play activities at a UNICEF-supported child friendly space
Twenty years after Darfur captured global attention as violence devastated communities and displaced millions in Sudan, children in the region are again trapped in a catastrophic crisis – but with less international focus and aid, UNICEF warned in a new Child Alert released today (28 Apr).
The report, “Darfur: 20 Years On, Children Under Threat,” highlights how Sudan’s ongoing conflict has reignited large-scale violence, mass displacement, acute hunger and grave violations against children across Darfur. As in 2005, homes have been burned, markets attacked, schools and health facilities damaged or destroyed, and families forced to flee – but today the scale of needs is greater, and the global outrage is far more constrained.
Across Darfur, children are bearing the heaviest burden of conflict. Many have lost access to education and healthcare, while growing numbers face severe malnutrition, disease, and violence perpetrated by armed forces or groups. Millions of children have been uprooted, with significant displacement also across borders, particularly into eastern Chad, where already overstretched services are struggling to cope with new arrivals.
The Child Alert draws stark parallels between the situation today and UNICEF’s first Darfur Child Alert published in 2005, when global outrage spurred humanitarian mobilization. Twenty years on, children’s needs have grown in scale and complexity, yet funding shortfalls, access restrictions, the changing nature of warfare, and limited international attention are sharply limiting the reach of lifesaving support.
In Al Fasher and other locations in North Darfur, prolonged conflict and sieges have left families cut off from food, safe water, and healthcare, forcing many to flee toward already overcrowded areas. Across Darfur, conflict has damaged or destroyed essential infrastructure, accelerating areas with famine, hunger, and disease as livelihoods collapse.
Children are also facing an alarming escalation in extreme violence. Nowhere has the impact been more acute than in Al Fasher. Since April 2024, more than 1,500 grave violations against children* attributed to parties to the conflict have been verified in Al Fasher, including the killing and maiming of over 1,300 children, many by explosive weapons and drones, as well as sexual violence, abductions and recruitment and use by armed groups. Yet, these harrowing figures almost certainly underrepresent the true scale of abuse, with similar patterns in other parts of the country.
Since the war began, the United Nations has verified more than 5,700 grave violations by parties to the conflict against children across Sudan, impacting at least 5,100 children, with over 4,300 killed or maimed. The trend is worsening. In the first three months of 2026 alone, at least 160 children were reportedly killed and 85 injured, marking a significant increase compared to the same period last year.
Despite extraordinary challenges, UNICEF and partners continue delivering lifesaving assistance across Darfur and neighbouring countries and providing education, clean water and sanitation, treating children for severe acute malnutrition, supporting mobile health services, offering psychosocial support and establishing safe spaces for children.
However, the Child Alert warns that humanitarian efforts remain severely constrained by insecurity, bureaucratic impediments, and funding shortfalls, leaving many children cut off from assistance at moments of greatest risk.
UNICEF is calling on parties to the conflict to uphold international law and protect civilians, including children; ensure safe and unimpeded humanitarian access; and end and prevent grave violations against children. The organization also urges donors to provide flexible, multi-year funding to sustain lifesaving programmes and support children affected by displacement across borders.
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