By Ebi Kesiena
Grave violations against children have dramatically increased across Sudan’s Darfur region in 2025, with North Darfur alone witnessing 110 verified incidents.
Child casualties in Sudan have risen by a staggering 83% compared to the first quarter of 2024. In Al Fasher, North Darfur, over 70 children have been killed or maimed in less than three months, with intense shelling and airstrikes in Zamzam IDP camp accounting for 16% of all verified child casualties in the area.
According to UNICEF Representative for Sudan, Sheldon Yett, the situation is a “growing catastrophe,” estimating that 825,000 children are trapped in conflict zones around Al Fasher.
The actual toll is likely much higher, as verified incidents represent only a fraction of the crisis. More than 60,000 people have been newly displaced in North Darfur in just six weeks, adding to the 600,000 displaced since April 2024, including 300,000 children.
Violence has rendered humanitarian access nearly impossible, with vital routes like the Tawila-Zamzam road completely cut off. Armed groups continue to target rural villages, worsening shortages of water, food, and medicine.
Food prices have doubled in three months, and more than 457,000 children in North Darfur are acutely malnourished, including nearly 146,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
UNICEF’s last delivery of life-saving supplies to Al Fasher was three months ago, and stocks are now exhausted. Efforts to deliver more have been thwarted by armed groups. In Zamzam, 2,300 children are being treated for SAM, but therapeutic food supplies will run out in three weeks. UNICEF warns that 500,000 children are at immediate risk if aid cannot be delivered.
