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HIGHLIGHTS
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The Sudan continues to face extremely complex humanitarian crises, which have left 15.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 8.5 million children.4 A political impasse and civil unrest have persisted since a military coup in October 2021, and the economy and basic social services continue to deteriorate. A staggering 3.7 million people remain internally displaced and around 1 million refugees are living in the Sudan.3 Intercommunal violence, regional conflicts, wasting, climate-induced hazards and major epidemic outbreaks continue to affect children’s lives and well-being.
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UNICEF provides life-saving assistance to internally displaced people, refugees, host communities and other vulnerable groups. This work incorporates resilience, peacebuilding and multisectoral approaches, mainstreams gender considerations and strengthens systems and local capacities to enhancing resilience, sustainability and social cohesion.
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UNICEF requires US$584.6 million to deliver life-saving child protection, education, health, nutrition, WASH and cash plus interventions designed to reduce maternal and infant mortality and malnutrition.
KEY PLANNED TARGETS
550,400 children with severe wasting admitted for treatment
2.5 million people with safe and accessible channels to report sexual exploitation and abuse
738,000 children accessing formal or non-formal education, including early learning
2.5 million people accessing a sufficient quantity and quality of water
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION AND NEEDS
The October 2021 military coup exacerbated the already complex humanitarian crisis in the Sudan. A staggering 3.7 million people remain internally displaced due to conflicts and environmental hazards in Blue Nile and all the Darfur and Kordofan States; while nearly 1 million people from neighbouring countries have sought refuge in the country. Areas including Jebel Marra and the Nuba Mountains are hard to reach due to conflicts, while other areas become routinely inaccessible due to insecurity and seasonal floods.
A political impasse and social unrest have persisted since the coup. A severe economic crisis and high inflation have triggered a wave of strikes, including among health sector staff and teachers, and this has further compromised basic social services that were already crumbling and further weakened by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The consequences for children living in this context are dire: 1 out of 18 children will not reach their fifth birthday. Recurrent disease outbreaks, including measles and malaria, continue to affect large numbers of children, while the routine immunization rate has rapidly fallen.
Between 2019 and 2021 the number of children who have not received a single dose of lifesaving vaccines doubled.10 Sudan has one of the highest prevalence rates of malnutrition among children in the world.
More than 3 million children are wasted, of whom 611,000 are severely wasted and at high risk of death. This number may further increase to 650,000 with the impact of 2022 dry spells, food ration cuts and rising food prices.
More than 200 hotspot sites in the Sudan experience recurrent conflicts and violence. Conflict and insecurity combined with economic crisis are making children more vulnerable due to negative coping mechanisms that include child marriage, school dropout, reduced food intake and increased forced recruitment and association with armed groups.
In addition, 11.5 million people (5.9 million females and 5.6 million males) are in need of urgent water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions. Out of 189 localities in the country, 151 face water scarcity that is at the crisis to critical level, and these localities are also highly susceptible to natural hazards, especially flooding. Such WASH-related diseases as diarrhoea and cholera remain a high risk due to lack of safe water and adequate sanitation.
Nearly 7 million school-age children (one in three) are out of school, and the remaining 12 million (6.2 million girls and 5.8 million boys) struggle to learn due to inadequate learning spaces and supplies, insufficient teacher capacity and pay and lack of other support, including for disabled children. Of those in school, 7 out of 10 cannot read and understand a simple sentence.