from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – AT least 1 525 children have been killed or maimed, 277 recruited by warring forces and 153 suffered rape and sexual violence in Sudan over the past two years.
The figures could be higher as the violations are for the period January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.
This is according to the eighth report of the United Nations Secretary General on Children and Armed Conflict.
The report documents that 2 168 grave violations against 1 913 children were verified.
The report observed a dramatic rise in grave violations following the eruption of hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.
Additionally, inter-communal violence continued to lead to violence against children, often owing to conflicts between pastoralists and farmers, mostly in the Darfur and Blue Nile states.
About 14 million children are in need of humanitarian aid and protection assistance, lacking access to food, water, shelter, electricity, education and health care.
Additionally, about 19 million children in Sudan were out of school.
“The situation in Sudan is catastrophic and the lives of children in Sudan are at stake,” lamented Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Prior to the escalation of hostilities in 2023, progress was made notably in the implementation of the 2021 roadmap through the development of a national framework for the release and reintegration of children.
Under the Juba Peace Agreement, in early 2023 some 122 children were released from parties to the conflict.
Sudan is enduring one of the most severe conflicts in the world today.
The government of Sudan is today administered by a Transitional Sovereignty Council, after the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
– CAJ News