The United Nations warned Tuesday of a deepening humanitarian crisis for children in Sudan’s Darfur region, as UNICEF launched a new report highlighting widespread violence, hunger and displacement.
Speaking at a UN press briefing in Geneva, UNICEF officials said the situation for children in Darfur had reached catastrophic levels, echoing the crisis that shocked the world two decades ago.
Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s representative in Sudan, said about 33 million people across the country need humanitarian assistance, more than half of them children. An estimated 15 million people have been displaced, including around 5 million children.
Across Darfur’s five states, more than 5 million children are facing extreme deprivation, Yett said, describing a pattern of killings, injuries, sexual violence, abductions and recruitment by armed groups.
Since April 2024, more than 1,500 grave violations against children have been verified in El Fasher alone, including the killing and maiming of over 1,300 children, many by explosive weapons and drones. In the first 90 days of 2026, at least 245 children were reported killed or injured.
Famine conditions were confirmed in El Fasher in November 2025, with malnutrition rates among children reaching catastrophic levels in parts of Darfur. In some areas, global acute malnutrition rates exceed 50%.
Health services have been attacked, looted or forced to close, while routine immunization has been disrupted, increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. More than 3 million children are out of school.
The crisis is also spilling across Sudan’s borders, with children fleeing to neighboring countries in poor condition, overwhelming already strained services.
Despite the challenges, UNICEF and its partners said they are providing treatment for severe malnutrition, safe drinking water, mobile health services, vaccinations and psychosocial support.
However, officials warned that funding remains critically low. UNICEF’s 2026 humanitarian appeal for Sudan is only 16% funded, putting lifesaving programs at risk.
UNICEF said the new “Child Alert” report aims to draw global attention to the scale of the crisis. The first such report, launched 20 years ago, also focused on Darfur.
“There was a lot of attention back then,” Yett said. “Now, the silence is deafening.”
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