How are children faring in crisis-hit Sudan?

On Thursday, October 13 at 19:30 GMT:
Children are among Sudan’s most vulnerable people in the wake of a recent military coup, with many enduring life-threatening hunger while missing out on school education.

More than in one in three children in Sudan – about 8 million girls and boys – need humanitarian help, says the Sudan representative for UNICEF, the UN agency for children. An estimated 650,000 children under five years old are facing severe acute malnutrition, with half of those likely to die if urgent help is not provided.

As communities across Sudan struggle with the impact of food price hikes, severe flooding, and violence between tribal groups, UNICEF and other non-governmental organisations are urging the swift resumption of international aid to Sudan. Assistance to the country was largely frozen in the wake of the coup led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in October 2021. The formation of a civilian-led government remains elusive.

While families struggle to feed their children, nearly seven million young people are also unable to go to school, with a further 12 million facing major disruption in their efforts to regularly attend classes. Poverty, the destructive impact of recent flooding, Covid-19, and a lack of qualified teachers are some of the reasons why children are missing out.

In Thursday’s episode of The Stream, we’ll look at how children in Sudan are faring and ask what’s needed to prevent them from becoming a lost generation.

In this episode of The Stream, we are joined by:
Arshad Malik, @arshadsave
Sudan Director, Save The Children

Hiba Morgan, @hiba_morgan
Al Jazeera correspondent

Nahid Gabralla
Director, SEEMA Center