More than 600,000 children in Sudan are at risk due to conflict
A new UNICEF report documents high risk levels for the hundreds
of thousands of children in Sudan suffering from malnutrition and the threat of
cholera as a result of ongoing violence.
By Kielce Gussie, Vatican News, Aug. 4, 2025
Kids being fed by Salesians in Sudan
(credit: Missioni Don Bosco, Turin)
After more than two years of violence, destruction, and
displacement, Sudan continues, according to the United Nations and other aid
organizations, to be the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
A recent report by UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund,
says that more than 640,000 children under the age of five are at risk as
result of the cholera outbreak in North Darfur State.
Increase in the number of cases of cholera
The first case was documented on June 21, 2025, in the city of
Tawila, and since then, the cases have grown to over 1,180 with about 300 of
them being children, with at least 20 deaths. This is a steep rise in the cases
of infection, in a city that has welcomed over half a million internally
displaced people.
There have been almost 2,140 cases pf cholera with at least 80
related deaths across Darfur’s five states.
Our future at risk
Since April 2025, North Darfur has been facing an escalation of
violence, which has put the lives of more than 640,000 children under the age
of five at high risk due to conflict, disease, and hunger. Although hundreds of
thousands have fled to Tawila, clashes continue and the situation remains
precarious—scarce food, insufficient clean water, limited shelter, and an
increasing threat of disease.
The state of North Darfur has seen its hospitals bombed and
healthcare facilities near conflict zones shut down. As a result, access to
medical care has been severely limited. Bring that together with unsafe water
and poor sanitation, the spread of cholera and other deadly
diseases—particularly in overcrowded displacement areas—is accelerating.
Recent studies, according to UNICEF, reported the number of
children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in North Darfur has doubled
in the last year. Tie that together with the cholera outbreak and children who
are weakened due to malnutrition are more susceptible to infection and death.
The report also stressed that “without immediate and safe access
to life-saving nutrition, healthcare, and clean water, preventable child deaths
will continue to rise.”
Essential supplies can save lives
The UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Sheldon Yett, explained that
even though cholera is preventable and easily treatable, it “is devastating
Tawila and other parts of Darfur, threatening the lives of children—especially
the youngest and most vulnerable”.
The UN organization continues to work around the clock with
their partner groups to stop the outbreak, but the ongoing violence “is
increasing needs faster than we can meet them.” Yett highlighted that UNICEF
has repeatedly called for “safe, unimpeded access to urgently reverse this
trend and reach the children in need” because “they cannot wait another day.”
Providing help on all fronts
On all fronts, UNICEF has been providing health, water,
sanitation and hygiene supplies to the millions of people who have been
displaced due to the conflict.
In Tawila, 30,000 people now have access to safe, chlorinated drinking water
thanks to UNICEF-supported water trucks, restored wells, and newly installed
storage systems. In Daba Naira, 150,000 people have received hygiene kits with
chlorine tablets enabling families to treat water at home.
Dedicated to stopping the outbreak and supporting recovery of
cholera, UNICEF is working to give out 1.4 million doses of oral cholera
vaccines.
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