UNICEF reports 50% surge in child casualties in Sudan in first quarter of 2026

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported Tuesday that child casualties in Sudan jumped 50% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Noting that at least 245 children were killed or wounded between January and March, with the worst violence concentrated in the Darfur and Kordofan regions, UNICEF said drone strikes have emerged as the leading cause of harm, accounting for nearly eight in 10 child casualties recorded so far this year.

"For three years, children across Sudan have been killed, injured, and displaced at staggering levels," said UNICEF chief Catherine Russell in a statement, referring to the civil war in the North African country that began in April 2023.

"Their homes, schools, and hospitals continue to come under attack. There is no justification for violence against children. It reflects a collective failure by parties to the conflict to protect the most basic rights of children," she added.

Saying that the UN monitors have logged more than 5,700 serious violations against children since the conflict began three years ago, the statement said: "The true toll is far higher, but insecurity and limited access to affected areas hinder sustained monitoring and verification."

UNICEF stressed that "across Sudan, an estimated 4.2 million children are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2026," warning that more than 825,000 of those cases are severe enough to be fatal without urgent treatment.

Nearly half of all schools have been shuttered or repurposed for non-educational use, leaving 8 million children without access to education.

UNICEF said it has received only 16% of the $963 million it requires to deliver lifesaving assistance this year, urging the international community to strengthen its support.

"We cannot look away from the suffering of children in Sudan," Russell said.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher also marked the "grim" anniversary, warning that nearly 34 million people, almost two in every three Sudanese, now require humanitarian support, making Sudan the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

Fletcher said nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes in the first three months of this year alone. He added that women and girls continue to face systemic and brutal sexual violence across the country.

"This grim and chastening anniversary marks another year when the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan," Fletcher said.