As the world’s gaze is fixed on conflicts further east, Sudan has silently slid into a tragic humanitarian crisis.1

In April 2023, conflict erupted in Sudan, plunging the country into disarray and inducing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. As we approach the 500th day of the conflict, the crisis only deepens. Children and their families are forcibly displaced from one location to another as the front lines shift, creating the largest child displacement crisis in the world.2 Since the beginning of the conflict, 13 million people have been displaced,3 over half of whom are children.4 This means upwards of 7 million children have fled violence in search of food, shelter, and safety5 Across all of Sudan’s 18 states, 10.7 million people have been internally displaced and 2.3 million are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, including Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Central African Republic.

Yet the fate they flee is never far behind. Since the beginning of the conflict in April 2023, an estimated 15,550 people have been killed and 33,000 injured.6 Between 2022 and 2023 alone, 1,525 children were killed or maimed, 7 and those who have survived are likely to have witnessed unfathomable brutality. Citizens face daily threats to their safety, from robberies targeting phones or cash, to acts of extreme violence. For example, a 14-year-old boy was shot in the abdomen in an unprovoked attack and “all his stomach fell out”, while a 30-year-old woman was left unable to walk after the bus she was travelling on came under fire. Satellite footage also shows entire villages that have been scorched to the ground, and evidence suggests ethnic minorities are at particular risk of violence.8 These are just a handful of the many episodes of violence affecting civilians on a daily basis.