I saw children without school, safety or hope
2 March 2026It's time to act to protect the girls and children of Sudan from the cruelty of war, writes Arjimand Hussain, Regional Response Manager, Sudan crisis.
As we crossed the busy Adre border from Chad into Darfur, Sudan, one of the first things I noticed was children roaming around all over the place. Most of these children are displaced from their homes, seeking safety and some meaning to their lives.
We soon entered Al Junainah, the first Sudanese city, some 29 kms from the Adre border. While walking around, I got to speak with Risham and Omer, sister and brother, herding a flock of goats. They have not attended school for the last three years, they told me. When asked if they intend to go to school in the future, they avoided the question and walked away.
Women and children worst affected
The Sudan civil war is about to mark the grim milestone of three years of untold suffering this April. The war has left the country in a state of devastation. Those who are bearing the brunt of lost homes, displacement and lost family protection are women and children.
Of the 4.3 million Sudanese refugees registered in neighbouring countries as of January 2026, a staggering 2.15 million are children, while women and girls constitute about 2.2 million of the Sudanese taking refuge outside their country. The number of those displaced internally within Sudan is even more heart rending – 3.6 million are children, most of whom are not attending school.
As we drove around Al Junainah, the scars of war were visible everywhere. Houses, walls and shops were riddled with bullet and explosion marks. At the peak of the fighting for the city, and its eventual fall in late 2023, Al Junainah witnessed mass atrocities against civilians, including children.
There is a semblance of life today in the city, but it shrouds more than it shows. The city is home to thousands of displaced people, including children whose ethnic background makes them vulnerable to repression and abuse. Some spoke to me on the condition their identity would not be revealed. They told me they make a living by trading beans and seasonal fruits across the border in Chad.
Infrastructure in disarray
As night fell, Al Junainah turned pitch dark. The public electricity distribution system is defunct since 2023. Electric poles remain visible, but the dangling power lines across the city are a reminder of the collapse of governance. In the night we heard occasional gunfire. No one is able to tell where and why the shots are fired.
Between Al Junainah and Nertiti we crossed at least 18 checkpoints. On the way we saw signs of several latest drone strikes, both on checkpoints and civilian structures close to the road. Local markets are barely able to function. Supply trucks are under constant drone hit risk, while humanitarian convoys are barely immune. Near Nertiti, an armed drone came about 500 meters close to our convoy before it noticed the humanitarian markings of our cars and flew away.
After hours of travel through the treacherous Jabel Marra mountains, we descended into Tawila. The first sight of the massive camps occupying the entire horizon is unsettling. Terms like ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ and ‘dire humanitarian crisis’ might sound familiar cliches, but there are barely any other words to describe the living conditions of the displaced people in Darfur’s largest IDP camp in Tawila.
Poor sanitation and hygiene conditions
Tawila hosts about 800,000 people. It is a vast swathe of temporary shelters made of wooden sticks and grass. There is barely any water available. Hundreds and thousands of children are out of school, mostly killing time in unhygienic conditions around their shelters. Toilets are very basic, used by hundreds of people. There is no running water anywhere. Even humanitarian buildings get water on donkey carts. Children’s sanitation and hygiene conditions are beyond words.
A senior UN official told me we were witnessing a complete generation being lost in front of our eyes in Darfur.
At an aid distribution site in Khartoum Jadeed, some 25 kms south of Tawila, I talked to women and children who had come from El Fasher city after it fell in October 2025.
I asked a group of about 16 women if they intend to go back. Almost all of them raised and waved their index fingers saying a big No. They are too scared to go back. I asked the same questions to a group of children, and the answers were the same.
Children lack vital education
There is a government school in the village, but it lies mostly in ruins. There are no teachers and no education aids. Teachers are scared to come. Children mostly spend their time feeding cattle around the vast swathe of empty land around their village.
Since October 2025, Plan International has delivered 819 tons of life saving aid in Tawila IDP camps, mostly consisting of food supplies, sanitation, hygiene and basic shelter materials. At least 163,806 people have benefitted so far. Plan intends to send additional 270 tons before the rainy season this July. Senior Humanitarian Aid Commission officials told me that Plan, besides MSF and WFP, are the only agencies providing humanitarian aid at scale in Tawila.
Without hygiene supplies for children, the situation would be far worse.
Urgent funding needed
Yet funding for Sudan’s humanitarian response has dropped from USD 2.1 billion in 2024 to USD 0.4 billion in 2026 – an approximately 81% decrease over two years. In 2026, funding for gender-based violence victims is barely USD 1.6 million – just 0.4% of the total funded.
As the world remains preoccupied with multiple other global crises, the children and girls of Sudan cannot afford to remain a ‘forgotten crisis’. As funding dwindles and security worsens, there is every likelihood many more areas of Sudan would slide into famine conditions.
What I witnessed in Darfur during my recent mission is beyond words. For the international community, it is time to act to ensure the children and girls of Sudan do not face hunger and malnutrition. To ensure they are protected from the cruelty of this war. To ensure they get a chance to go back to school, and are not lost in the wilderness of the camps they have taken refuge in.
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