The effects of armed conflicts often last for years after the last weapons are put down, as food and water supplies, housing and infrastructure lie in ruins.

But by far, the hardest-hit victims of conflict are young children whose futures are put in jeopardy each day they go without access to food, clean water, and stable homes. 

In Sudan, one of the world’s poorest and most conflict-ridden countries, there are more than 2 million malnourished children, many of whom lost their families to the conflicts. 

As a response to the dire need to care for these children, Unicef released an appeal in a statement asking for $110 million to address their needs on Wednesday. 

If fulfilled, the funding could reach all of Sudan’s 2 million children who don’t receive enough food currently and also provide education, clean water, health services, and protection such as housing or psychosocial support for abandoned children. 

“El Niño, epidemics, floods and droughts, and conflict-related displacements” have amplified the already scarce supplies of food in regions across Sudan, the statement said

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Sudan has been wracked by ongoing violence in Darfur, the Kordofans, Blue Nile and Abyei, all of which has forced more than 3.2 million people to flee their homes, the statement said. 

And of those, 1.9 million are children who have been separated from their families and “affected by grave violations.”

The appeal comes from Unicef’s Global Humanitarian Action, which sets the agency’s appeals for funding and goals to provide food, clean water, education, and health measures for children in emergencies across the world.  

While Unicef made significant progress for children in Sudan last year, taking measures to fight malnourishment in over 170,000 children, there were gaps they couldn’t fill. 

Unicef supplied clean water for 44,339 children in Sudan in 2016, yet that was only 15% of their overall target. 

When it comes to education, Unicef met 26% of their goal, providing 330,000 children with school supplies adapted for emergency situations. As part of the education materials, children also receive “recreational materials” that can act as a small reprieve from the horrors they’ve experienced living and growing up in conflict zones. 

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The bulk of the current appeal ($68 million) would go toward providing food and investing in clean water for Sudan’s malnourished children —  a first step to providing the essential and critical needs of education and health services. 

Today, over 3 million Sudanese citizens are displaced, 70% of whom are children. It’s up to the rest of the world to stand up for the children of Sudan and lend a helping hand. 

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Defeat Poverty

Conflict in Sudan Has Left 2M Kids Without Food, But This Campaign Is Trying to Help

By Meghan Werft