The UN agency added that there are more than 2,500 serious violations of children’s rights – an average of more than one an hour – in a country where 14 million young people need help.
“As we come to more than 100 days since the conflict in Sudan escalated, we know that takes an absolutely terrible toll on children and families,” UNICEF spokesperson Joe English told UN News.
Deadly health concerns
Echoing those concerns, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that nearly 300 displaced children have died of measles and malnutrition in White Nile State.
“This is it it is time for all parties to this conflict to end this terrible war immediately“said High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, amid growing concern for the more than 740,000 refugees currently fleeing Sudan to neighboring countries.
According to UNHCR, conditions are “horrendous” for those who have reached shelter in neighboring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded and the rainy season has made it difficult to move aid.
Children take care of themselves
So far, more than 3.3 million people have been displaced within Sudan and across its borders, including in Egypt, where the UNHCR said most children continue to arrive without their parents.
“For every child killed or injured we know that many more are missing from their homes, their lack of access to essential services,” UNICEF said in a statement, emphasizing the need for safe, unfettered access to children and families so they can receive the support they need.
Despite intense diplomatic efforts to end the fighting – especially by the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional body, the League of Arab States and the UN – clashes involving the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia continue in many fields.
Lending his support for the much-needed peaceful dialogue, UNHCR chief Grandi said that people must be allowed to leave conflict areas to find safety, either inside or outside the country, and be protected “from all forms of violence”.
Currently, the UN response inside Sudan is only 23 percent funded. Both UNHCR and UNICEF are urgently appealing for more donor support to help vulnerable populations who have survived three months of fighting, which is concentrated around the capital Khartoum, but has spread far into troubled Darfur and other regions.