Sudan's three-year war deepens child and hunger crisis

Millions have been displaced by Sudan's war, pushing parts of the country toward famine.

Aid agencies warn children are paying the heaviest price as food shortages grow and humanitarian funding falls.

"The reality for children in Sudan is growing darker hour by hour," Eva Hinds, spokeswoman for the UN's children's agency (UNICEF), said last week as the country's civil war entered its fourth year.

The conflict broke out in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) following the collapse of a fragile transition to civilian rule after Sudan's 2019 uprising .

Fighting has since spread across much of the country, devastating cities and displacing more than 13 million people, the World Health Organization reported .

More than 4,300 children have been killed or maimed since the war began, according to UNICEF , with Darfur and Kordofan states accounting for the highest numbers.

Ashan Abeywardena, emergency response manager at War Child, an organization working to ensure a safer future for every child caught up in war, said the conflict had had a severe impact on minors.

"Going through three years of conflict, it has a massive impact on these children and women.

Children's daily lives are shaped by news of death and destruction," Abeywardena told DW.

Many of the deaths and injuries have been caused by indiscriminate drone attacks — a tool that is increasingly being used by both sides in the conflict.

"In the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes ," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said.

Both the RSF and SAF have used drones to attack civilian infrastructure in a bid to slow the advance of their opponents.

The effect is that hospitals, roads, and schools have been destroyed, further worsening the plight of the civilian population.

Humanitarian crisis spills over into East Africa
The effects of the war are being felt throughout East Africa.

DW Kenya correspondent Andrew Wasike said the conflict is no longer seen as contained within Sudan .

"In East Africa, the war is not just a distant conflict.

It's both a humanitarian catastrophe and a regional security problem," Wasike said, adding that displacement, disrupted trade routes and political tensions are placing additional strain on neighboring countries.

"The conversation is no longer only about Khartoum or Darfur.

We are all feeling the impact," he added.

Sudan's civil war — the limits of humanitarian aid
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Despite the scale of suffering, Sudan has struggled to remain a global priority.

But according to the United Nations ' top official in the country, the situation goes beyond neglect.

Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said the crisis has effectively been abandoned.

She described widespread atrocities documented by the UN, including systematic sexual violence, sieges that have driven communities into famine, and mass killings.

She pointed to a particularly deadly episode last year, when thousands were reportedly killed within days during fighting in the city of el-Fasher.

"My question is, what is the world waiting for?" she asked, calling for the kind of global response seen in other major crises.

Now that call is getting attention in Berlin.

Germany hosted an international conference last week to raise funds to help those affected by the war.

Ahead of the conference, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was hopeful that more than $1 billion (around €850 million) could be raised.

He later announced that €1.3 billion had been pledged, more than the $1 billion raised at last year's donor conference in London.

This article has been adapted from an episode of DW's AfricaLink podcast.