UNICEF Warns Darfur Children Face Catastrophe Amid Access Barriers

The warning comes after a visit to Tawila, where an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 displaced people have fled violence in North Darfur.

Children in Darfur are surviving on the edge of abandonment as conflict, displacement and access constraints combine into what UNICEF describes as an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe—one of the largest and least visible in the world today.

Following a 10-day mission to Darfur, a senior UNICEF official warned that reaching a single child can take days of negotiation, security clearances and travel across unstable frontlines—yet lifesaving assistance is still reaching some of the most desperate communities against overwhelming odds.

“In Darfur today, every movement is hard-won and every delivery fragile,” the official said. “But for children, this work is the thin line between being abandoned and being reached.”

A City Built from Desperation

The warning comes after a visit to Tawila, where an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 displaced people have fled violence in North Darfur. Families there have constructed an entire city from sticks, hay and plastic sheeting, creating one of the largest displacement sites in Sudan.

“Standing inside that vast expanse of makeshift shelters was overwhelming,” the UNICEF official said. “It is a city rebuilt out of fear and necessity—larger than Helsinki—where every family is there because they had no choice but to flee.”

Lifesaving Aid, Delivered One Convoy at a Time

Despite extreme insecurity and logistical barriers, UNICEF and partners have delivered critical support in recent weeks. In just two weeks, humanitarian teams:

• Vaccinated over 140,000 children

• Treated thousands for illness and severe malnutrition

• Restored safe water for tens of thousands

• Opened temporary learning spaces

• Delivered food, protection services and psychosocial care

“It is painstaking, precarious work—one convoy, one clinic, one classroom at a time,” the official said. “But for children in Darfur, it is lifesaving.”

Children Living on the Brink

The visit revealed a population of children living without basic services for months. Roads across Darfur are largely sand and stone, requiring multiple permissions for any movement and constant reassessment of security risks.

“Nothing prepared me for the scale of displacement and the collapse of essential services,” the official said. “Every child is living on the brink.”

Among those met was Doha, a teenage girl who fled Al Fasher with her aunt and siblings. Once a student of English, she dreams of returning to school and becoming a teacher. At a nutrition site, UNICEF teams met Fatima, a malnourished young girl whose mother was killed in the conflict, now cared for by her aunt. At a women’s centre, mothers spoke of children sleeping without blankets in freezing temperatures.

“The children are freezing,” one mother said. “We have nothing to cover them with.”

The World’s Largest, Least Seen Emergency

UNICEF stressed that Sudan is now the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, yet remains dangerously underreported and underfunded. Restricted access, fragmented conflict dynamics and competing global crises have pushed the suffering of Sudanese children out of the global spotlight.

“What I witnessed is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding on a massive scale,” the official said.

Call to Action: Act Now for Sudan’s Children

UNICEF urged governments, donors and international partners to scale up funding, secure humanitarian access and prioritize civilian protection, warning that without decisive global action, conditions for children will deteriorate rapidly.

“Sudan’s children urgently need international attention,” the official said. “Without it, the horrors facing the country’s youngest and most vulnerable will only deepen.”