War in Sudan Displaces Millions; Education Becomes Major Casualty

War in Sudan has pushed more than eight million children out of school. Nearly three-quarters of all schools are now damaged or destroyed. The United Nations says this crisis is happening while fighting has raged for over three years. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed issued a stark warning on Friday during an informal Security Council session. She noted the conflict has lasted 1,210 days and is stealing futures from a whole generation of Sudanese youth.

Mohammed told council members that education is one of the war's most significant casualties. Parents in Darfur often keep children at home because classrooms are no longer safe places. Five out of six school-age children are currently away from their desks. Home offers the only remaining shelter for families trying to protect their kids from violence. Since 2024, UN officials have recorded over 67 attacks on schools and more than 154 uses of these buildings by military forces. These numbers likely miss the true scale of destruction happening daily across the nation.

Teachers face severe hardship as well. More than half of them have gone months without pay despite working against impossible odds. Sudan has already lost a generation to earlier wars, yet it is losing another now. The burden falls hardest on women and children who had no say in the fighting but suffer the deepest consequences. UN partners managed to bring over one million children back into some form of learning this year. That achievement remains far short of what the country desperately needs right now.

Since the conflict began between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, UNICEF has repeatedly warned about the impact on children. Approximately 15 million people have been displaced so far. Nearly 33 million individuals across the country are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. More than half of this desperate population consists of children. Volker Turk visited Sudan earlier this year to witness the horror firsthand. He heard accounts of mass killings and gang rape. He called the situation a human rights catastrophe unfolding in real time rather than just another ordinary conflict.