Sudan
Children in Sudan are currently living through the largest displacement crisis in the world. Forced from their homes, they face risks of violence, malnutrition, exploitation and psychological trauma, and are growing up without access to quality education. Together with our partners, we provide children and families in Sudan with psychosocial and education support, as well as child protection and essential emergency services.
The situation for children
Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has endured decades of instability and multiple civil wars. The country's most recent conflict, which began on 15 April 2023, has escalated into a nationwide catastrophe with devastating consequences for civilians, particularly children. It has now affected every single state, killing tens of thousands of people, and resulting in the largest displacement crisis in the world. Health and education systems have collapsed, and the economy has been shattered.
Despite the scale of the crisis, Sudan continues to receive limited international attention, and the humanitarian response remains critically underfunded, particularly for child protection and mental health support.
Our work in Sudan
War Child first began working in Sudan in 1998 to support communities displaced by violence. We stopped working there in 2013 to focus on our operations in South Sudan, but returned to the country in 2025 to support children impacted by the latest humanitarian crisis.
Together with our partners in Sudan, we work to reach children and their families with mental health and psychosocial support, as well as urgent child protection services. We also provide stress management sessions for caregivers and train child protection committees to identify, manage and mitigate protection risks. These efforts help strengthen community wellbeing and support caregivers and communities to keep children safe.
Evidence-based Methodologies used in Sudan
Play and movement-based psychosocial support
- Evidence-based
- Mental health and psychosocial support
Strengthening parent wellbeing and skills
- Evidence-based
- Mental health and psychosocial support
Latest news from Sudan
- Advocacy
Sudan, Three Years on: NGOs Call for Intensified Action as the World’s Largest Displacement Crisis Grows.
Three years into the brutal war in Sudan, tens of thousands of children, women, and men have been killed, starved, and maimed in what is today the world’s largest and fastest-growing displacement crisis. With the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan and its impacts across the region showing no signs of abating, NGOs working across the region are alarmed at the insufficient funding response and diplomatic attention that this conflict and the consequent regional crisis is receiving.
Three years on, children in Sudan don’t know a life without conflict
Sudan is not a forgotten crisis; it is an unspoken one. After three years of ongoing conflict, the country remains one of the worst places to be a child, and yet the response continues to fall short of what is needed.
War Child Statement on Escalating Crisis in El Fasher, Sudan
War Child is horrified by the escalating violence in El Fasher, in Sudan's North Darfur. After more than 18 months under siege, thousands of children and families are now trapped amid reports of mass killings, detentions, and severe shortages of food, water and medicine.
- Mental health and psychosocial support
How EASE is providing Sudanese refugee families in Uganda with tools to process emotions
As conflict forces children and caregivers from Sudan to seek refuge in neighboring countries, War Child - in collaboration with CARE Uganda - are co-leading a consortium to provide families in need with psychosocial support through the EASE methodology with funding from the European Union.
- Child protection
- Education
- Mental health and psychosocial support
A space to heal, learn, and play: education, protection and psychosocial support for children displaced by Sudan conflict
As conflict forces millions of people in Sudan to seek refuge or return home to neighboring South Sudan, War Child is on the ground providing children with protection, education, and psychosocial support to recover from the trauma of displacement.
The Sudan Crisis: A Growing Humanitarian Need and a Call for Action
The ongoing war in Sudan has displaced millions with over 810,000 seeking refuge in South Sudan: a country already grappling with its own humanitarian challenges. As the crisis deepens, urgent action is needed to address the overwhelming need for protection, healthcare and education, especially for vulnerable women and children.
