In a Child Alert report titled Darfur: 20 Years On, Children Under Threat, UNICEF says the horrors that drew global outrage in 2005 are resurfacing, but with greater scale and more lethal tactics.
The report says homes, schools and hospitals are again being hit, while modern warfare has intensified risks for civilians. Since April 2024, UNICEF says more than 1 500 grave violations against children have been verified in El Fasher alone, including killings, maiming, abductions, recruitment into armed groups and sexual violence. UNICEF says more than 1 300 children have been killed or injured in El Fasher, with explosive weapons and drones cited as major causes.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said a new generation is enduring violence and terror while global attention has waned. The report also notes that across Sudan, the UN has verified more than 5 700 grave violations against children since the current war began, with the pace of child fatalities rising in the first three months of 2026 compared with the previous year.
Beyond direct attacks, UNICEF warns that lifesaving assistance is being strangled by insecurity, bureaucratic obstacles and a severe funding gap. Prolonged sieges have left many families in North Darfur cut off from food and safe water, while collapsed infrastructure and spreading famine are worsening the risk to children.
UNICEF says mobile health services and malnutrition treatment are continuing where access is possible, but the report warns that aid is not reaching children facing the most extreme danger.
UNICEF is calling for an immediate end to violations against children, sustained humanitarian access and flexible donor funding to support displaced families inside Sudan and across borders, particularly in overstretched host communities in eastern Chad.
“We cannot allow history to repeat itself,” Catherine Russell said, urging urgent action to protect children and end the war.
–UN/ChannelAfrica–
