Sudan
Facts and figures
- Children affected by conflict: 2.6 Million
- Number of War Child projects in 2019: One
- Total number of participants: 2,667
National Situation
Sudan has been the scene of prolonged armed conflicts - both internal and external - since 1950. Political and border disputes have fuelled tensions inside the country. Violent clashes for control of natural resources - from grazing rights to oil - contribute to the atmosphere of violence.
A ceasefire - and with it the end of Africa’s longest civil war - came to Sudan in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The agreement between northern and southern factions included the referendum which led to the secession of South Sudan in 2011. Yet armed conflict between Sudan and South Sudan continues along the border to this day.
Sudan remains in the grip of continued instability. Widespread demonstrations against the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir triggered a military coup in April 2019. The ensuing power vacuum has seen continued public protests met with violent force - including the killing of four high school students during a protest in El-Obeid.
Situation of Children
Children have suffered markedly as a result of the decades of conflict in Sudan. Young people across the country - particularly those living along the country’s border - face displacement, separation from their families and the threat of violence.
An estimated three million children are currently out of school - around one third of the school age population. Children and youth living in refugee and IDP settlements go without many basic services and are at risk of disease and malnourishment. They are also regularly exposed to the threat of violence.
Our project Can't Wait to Learn helps children in Sudan learn in their own community, even when there are no teachers
What We Do
War Child has focused its efforts in Sudan on education in response to the needs of the country’s high number of out-of-school children. Can’t Wait to Learn - a global programme born out of the highly successful e-Learning Sudan pilot - brings flexible and effective learning opportunities to children who need them most.
The programme - which aims to reach 65,000 out-of-school children in Sudan by the end of 2020 - has been developed in partnership with the national Ministry of Education, UNICEF, Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women’s Studies, TNO and Butterfly Works. In partnership with War Child, UNICEF has begun to scale up the programme to new locations.
