United Nations: Darfur’s Children Reach Critical Point Under Hunger and Violence

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday that 5 million children in Sudan’s Darfur region are facing severe deprivation.
The agency issued an urgent warning about the situation, as the civil war in Sudan enters its fourth year, according to Reuters.
UNICEF uses such alerts—known as a “Child Alert”—sparingly to signal that conditions have reached a critical level. This marks the first time in 20 years that such a warning has been issued for Darfur.
Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, told journalists in Geneva via video link from Port Sudan that children across the region have reached a breaking point. Childhood, he said, has once again become defined by fear and loss, with homes burned and schools and health facilities damaged or destroyed.
He added that children are bearing the heaviest burden of the war in Darfur—being killed, maimed, displaced from their homes, and exposed to severe hunger, disease, and psychological trauma.
The vast Darfur region in western Sudan remains a hotspot of violence, including ethnically driven killings during the civil war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The region had also been the scene of atrocities and mass displacement during the conflict that escalated in 2003, when rebel groups took up arms against the Sudanese government, which responded by deploying militias.
Despite the worsening crisis, UNICEF said it has received limited global attention compared to the conflict two decades ago. Only 16% of the organization’s humanitarian appeal for Sudan has been funded this year.
UNICEF reported that at least 160 children were killed and 85 injured across Sudan in the first three months of 2026—representing a significant increase compared to the same period last year.
The most severe impact on children has been observed in El Fasher, which has been under prolonged siege. Since April 2024, at least 1,300 children have been killed or maimed there, with reports of armed groups committing sexual violence, abductions, and forced recruitment.
According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), supported by the United Nations, acute malnutrition reached famine levels in two additional areas of North Darfur State in February.