Sudan’s more than three-year civil war is creating a crisis that could outlast the fighting itself, with millions of children missing years of education just as the country faces the enormous task of rebuilding an economy battered by conflict.
At least eight million children remain out of school, according to UNICEF, while almost half of Sudan’s school buildings are either closed, being used for other purposes or otherwise unavailable for education. The disruption is particularly severe in Darfur and Kordofan, where some of the war’s heaviest fighting has shifted.
The scale of the damage prompted UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed to warn that Sudan was moving towards losing another generation to the conflict.
Speaking at a UN meeting on safeguarding education in Sudan, Mohammed said the war had gone on for more than 1,000 days and that children continued to bear a disproportionate share of the consequences.
The UN and its partners have managed to return more than one million Sudanese children to some form of learning this year, but officials say that remains far short of what is needed.
