WHAT IS HAPPENING
IN SUDAN?

As the conflict that erupted in April 2023 in Sudan continues, children continue to bear the greatest brunt. 

Sudan is the world's largest child displacement crisis. An estimated 5 million children have fled their homes since 2023, including nearly 1 million children who have fled across borders, particularly to Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan.

Children are facing ongoing violence in El Fasher and Darfur, including drone strikes, shelling, and attacks on civilians that have killed thousands, including children, this year alone.

Sudan was already facing its worst ever humanitarian crisis even before the eruption of conflict in 2023. Existing localised conflict, natural disasters, disease outbreaks, hunger and economic degradation already threatened millions of children’s lives and futures. 30.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including 15.6 million children.

Since the conflict began in April 2023:

• An average of 1 child every 10 seconds has been forced to flee their home
• 6.5 million children are now displaced — nearly half under the age of five
• More than 13 million children are out of school
• 3.2 million children, under the age of 5, are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2025
• Over 3,150 grave child rights violations have been reported in the last year — including rape, abduction, and forced recruitment.

Each day the fighting continues, the misery deepens for children in Sudan especially the most vulnerable.

Despite the staggering levels of need, this crisis is not getting the attention it deserves. Children are witnessing or experiencing unimaginable violence - things no child should ever face. There is an unprecedented lack of funding and critical lack of humanitarian access.

Children in Sudan need protection, education, and lifesaving support — and they need it now.

You can support our life-saving work in Sudan and other countries across the world.

Today more than 15.6 million children in Sudan need support to overcome the horrifying impacts of this conflict. 

They’ve seen their homes, hospitals, playgrounds and schools bombed, looted and occupied. They’ve lost loved ones and been subject to unspeakable violence. They’ve been cut off from the very basics like food, shelter, and healthcare.

They are surviving bombs and bullets to risk dying from starvation and disease.

The horrors of conflicts like this can have a severe and long-lasting impact on children’s mental health unless they receive the urgent support they need.

More than 13 million of the country’s 17 million school-age children currently out of school. Schools across conflict-affected areas are either closed, damaged, or being used as shelters for displaced families, leaving children with no safe or secure place to learn.

Save the Children and its partners remain dedicated to providing life-saving assistance to families who continue to be impacted by this crisis.

We’re bringing together the best of our experience in humanitarian emergencies and long-term programmes and working with partners to ensure that urgently needed support reaches children and families in Sudan and neighbouring countries.

So far in 2025, we have reached over 1.3 million people, including 715,000 children, with integrated health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, food and livelihoods and education programmes within our emergency response and development programs:

• We’re running mobile health clinics in the camps for displaced people and providing nutrition supplements for malnourished children. In total, we have 117 mobile health teams and are delivering more than 700 health outreach  sessions.

• We’re responding to a major outbreak of cholera and have established 3 treatment centres to provide critical support to children and their families.

• Between February and March 2025, we arranged six cargo flights of 200 metric tonnes of life saving medical supplies. A further 60 metric tonnes of nutrition supplies were brought in via the seaport.

• We’re providing cash grants to families to help them buy food, medicines and other essentials to address the worsening food insecurity situation.

• We’re currently supporting over 400 schools and learning spaces across the country. So far, we have supported over 45,000 children through formal education and about 37,000 children through non-formal education.

• We also offer games and activities for children in safe spaces, such as dancing, drawing and sports to overcome their negative experiences. These safe spaces and play activities also relieve pressure off parents and help them to manage their stress.

Save the Children has worked in Sudan since 1983 and provides programming for children and families affected by conflict, displacement, extreme poverty and hunger.

Children and their families are in desperate need. 

Donate to help us respond quickly to support children living in crisis in countries like Sudan and around the world. 

Children are bearing the greatest brunt of this conflict. It is crucial for all parties involved to prioritise the protection of children and to take all necessary measures to safeguard their lives, rights and futures. This includes guaranteeing safe and uninterrupted humanitarian access. 

But to truly protect children’s lives and futures, it is critical that we see an end to this fighting.