INSIGHT - Sudan's war risks 'lost generation' of children

KAYA REFUGEE CAMP, Maban, South Sudan: Amina's eyes were red-rimmed and vacant, her voice a whisper of grief as she recounted the day her 17-year-old son was killed in Sudan's southeastern town of Sinja.

As gunfire erupted near their home in April, she tried to escape with her five children, but Ahmed was caught in the crossfire.

"They shot him in the chest," Amina, 52, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, placing her hand on her heart as she sat in the Kaya refugee camp across the border in South Sudan's Maban county.

"He died in my arms in the middle of the road."

His older brother carried Ahmed's body to a field, and together the family buried the boy in a shallow grave before continuing a six-day journey to the border.

Amina and Ahmed's names, along with other refugees interviewed at the Kaya camp, have been changed to protect their identities.

While the world's attention is fixated on conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, a devastating crisis is unfolding in Sudan, where the most vulnerable members of society – children – are bearing the brunt of the violence.

War in Sudan has created the world's largest child displacement crisis, with nearly 5 million children on the move since the fighting began 18 months ago.

Thousands of children like Ahmed have been killed.

For those who survive, the future looks bleak.

Every day, scores of Sudanese refugees pour across the border into camps in South Sudan, bringing with them harrowing tales of the toll the conflict is taking on children.

Famine is wreaking havoc in parts of Sudan, with children facing severe malnutrition. Millions of children have no access to education and healthcare, and many face sexual violence, exploitation and recruitment by armed groups.

Aid agencies grappling to respond are stymied by a lack of foreign aid, restricted access due to intense fighting and the targeting of staff and aid supplies. They warn that the consequences for Sudan's children could be catastrophic.

"Children's lives in Sudan have been utterly torn apart and changed forever, with unimaginable loss, physical and emotional distress and prevalent violations of their rights," said Mohamed Abdiladif, interim country director for Save the Children in Sudan.

"They are hungry, they are scared, they are living a day-by-day existence, with stressed and preoccupied parents struggling to meet their needs. A generation isn't yet lost - but without help, it may well be."

FROM WAR TO FAMINE

The conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April last year, driven by tensions over the transition to civilian rule after long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir was ousted in 2019.

Despite mediation attempts, the power struggle has escalated, with fighting spreading from the capital Khartoum to areas such as Darfur and states including Sennar, Al Gedaref, Al Jazirah and Blue Nile.

The United Nations estimates up to 15,000 people have been killed in Darfur alone. More than 8 million Sudanese are displaced in the country, and over 2 million have become refugees in neighbouring countries, mainly Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.

Human rights groups, including a U.N.-mandated mission, accuse both sides of widespread abuses, including rape, torture and arbitrary arrests. The RSF is also accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

The war has also led to a catastrophic food crisis. The U.N. declared famine in the North Darfur region in August. This means that people are already dying from hunger and related conditions such as malnutrition and infection.

Around 25 million people in Sudan – more than half the population – face acute hunger, with children most at risk of developing severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition.

The U.N. estimates that 730,000 Sudanese children may suffer severe acute malnutrition this year, and in South Sudan - which has received more than 810,000 people since the war erupted - the signs are already evident.

Aid workers at a reception centre for refugees in Maban regularly see newly arrived mothers cradling frail, malnourished children.

Serious cases are referred to Bunj Hospital, the only healthcare facility in the area, but even after children are treated, they remain trapped in a cycle of hunger.

In the dilapidated hospital's sparse, sun-lit pediatric ward, 11-month-old Muna lay wrapped in a blanket in the arms of her grandmother Hawa who gently rocked her back and forth.

"Her mother didn't have enough to eat, so the child was born this way," said Hawa, 42, as she lifted the blanket to reveal a listless child with stick-thin limbs, her eyes barely open.

"I hope she will get better, but when I take her back to the camp, what will I give her? We have nothing to eat."

Housed in endless rows of white tarpaulin tents, many refugee families in the Kaya camp said the meagre food rations they receive are only enough for a single meal for their children.

"Before the war, we used to farm sorghum and okra ... Life was good in Sudan," said Jamila, 60, who fled Sennar and made the seven-day trek to South Sudan in January.

Now living in Kaya with her son, daughter and five grandchildren, Jamila’s biggest concern was the deteriorating health of her grandchildren.

"We are safe here in South Sudan, but life is difficult. There is not enough food. The children cry at night because they are hungry, and they have become thin and weak."

Without treatment, malnutrition can have long-term effects on a child's health and development.

Severe acute malnutrition shuts down children's immune systems and makes otherwise non-life-threatening conditions such as diarrhoea potentially lethal. It can also cause muscle wasting, blurred vision, stunting and organ damage.

Senior officials from the U.N. World Food Programme said all refugees in Maban receive food assistance, but funding shortfalls in recent years have halved rations.

Refugees currently receive 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of cereal per day, as well as cash assistance to buy other types of food.

Mary-Ellen McGroarty, country director for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in South Sudan, confirmed an increase in malnutrition across Maban within refugee and local communities.

"Malnutrition has many causes, and there tends to be an increase in malnutrition during the rainy season due to the high prevalence of waterborne diseases," said McGroarty.

"Compounding effects this year include the increase in newly arrived refugees from Sudan. Many of the children crossing the border are malnourished after long journeys to reach safety."

McGroarty said the WFP was running nutrition treatment and prevention programmes, such as school meals for children from the refugee and host communities.

'STOLEN FUTURE'

Sudan's war has also created one of the worst education crises in the world, with more than 90% of the country's 19 million school-age children unable to access formal education.

Research by aid agencies in May found schools have been targeted in airstrikes, occupied by armed groups and used to store weapons.

Around 2,000 schools in Sudan - more than one in 10 - are also being used to accommodate thousands of displaced families.

Fluent in English and passionate about coding, Amir, 17, was a computer science student at college in Khartoum until the conflict forced him to escape to South Sudan in January.

Now languishing in Kaya camp, Amir's days are a stark contrast to his previous life. The camp is remote, and opportunities to learn are scarce.

"I feel depressed. Before the war. I had dreams, I had ambitions. I want to study, I want to learn - but there is nothing here for people like me," said Amir.

"The war has taken so much from us. My future has been stolen."

Hundreds of children have also been separated from their families due to the fighting, putting them at risk of exploitation, including recruitment by armed groups and sexual violence.

The latest U.N. data shows more than 1,700 violations of children's rights occurred in Sudan in 2023.

These included more than 1,240 cases of killing and maiming children, as well hundreds of instances of child soldier recruitment and rape and other forms of sexual violence.

South Sudanese authorities say they are working with humanitarian organisations to support child refugees, but the country - one of world's poorest - is overstretched.

Prior to the war, South Sudan was already home to 275,000 refugees, most from Sudan who had arrived more than a decade ago due to previous conflicts.

Peter Alberto, Maban's county commissioner, said he was aware of child protection challenges and called for more support, especially to stop the use of children as soldiers.

"Armed groups may have been taking some children and recruiting them," Alberto told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"This needs to be checked to know the extent of recruitment and who is being used to fight the war. Sometimes, they use children to collect intelligence."

Aid agencies are calling for a ceasefire, safe access to vulnerable populations and more funding from international donors. The U.N. has appealed for $2.7 billion, but only half of the funds required have been donated.

"Children are incredibly resilient, and with the right support, they can survive and thrive to become healthy and productive adults," said Save the Children's Abdiladif.

"The world needs to step up now to provide the assistance gravely needed ... Without this support, their future is far less certain."

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