As the war in Sudan marks its one-year anniversary next month,
the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on Monday
warned of a staggering toll of the crisis on children, with an
estimated 24 million teetering on the brink of a “generational
catastrophe”.
Since the conflict erupted in April
2023, pitting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) against the
Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the CRC – an independent body
ensuring children’s rights and protections worldwide – has
documented a litany of atrocities.
“There were worrying reports of rape of civilians,
including children, denial of humanitarian
access affecting children’s access to basic
necessities, and other violations of international law, including
violations of children’s economic and social rights,” the
Committee said in a news release.
The situation has thrust almost 24 million Sudanese children into
jeopardy, with a staggering 14 million requiring
urgent humanitarian assistance, 19 million deprived of
education and 4 million displaced from their homes.
“Their conditions are appalling,” the Committee
added, noting acute shortages of food and clean drinking water,
and severely limited access to healthcare and medicines.
Sharp increase in violations
It also warned of a sharp increase in the number of children
killed or falling victim to sexual violence as a weapon of war
compared to a year ago.
Children are at higher risk given the widespread armed
recruitment of children, particularly in Darfur and other areas,
including eastern Sudan, the Committee said.
“Schools across the country have either been destroyed or at
least 170 campuses turned into emergency shelters for internally
displaced people, thus jeopardizing children’s right to education
for many years to come and exposing them to the risk of sexual
exploitation and trafficking,” it added.
Decisive action
The Committee called on Sudan to immediately take
all urgent and necessary measures to end the severe
violations and fulfil its commitments under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as to cooperate
with the Independent International
Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, established by
the Human Rights Council in
October 2023.
It also reminded the State of its obligations under the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflict, amid reports that both
SAF and RSF recruited hundreds of children in Darfur and eastern
Sudan.
“The Committee calls on Sudan to immediately stop recruiting
children and to spare them from the impact of the military
operations of the two parties,” it said.
