Education Under Fire: We Must Invest in Education for Children Living on the Frontlines of the Conflict in Sudan

As the world marks the second anniversary of the brutal armed conflict, Education Cannot Wait Director Yasmine Sherif highlights the value of aligning humanitarian funding to ensure children can access life-saving quality education.

NEW YORK, April 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The devastating and protracted armed conflict in Sudan is causing untold suffering for millions of children. This brutal conflict has now surpassed two years, which means two years of lost education for millions of Sudanese children and adolescents. We must invest in their education today. It cannot wait, or we will lose a generation of children and adolescents.

This is one of the most severe humanitarian crises facing the world today. In all, 30 million people need humanitarian assistance, including 16 million children. A total of 12 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan since April 2023, straining education systems, budgets and capacity in neighbouring countries.

The education system is in tatters. Approximately 3.1 million school-aged children are displaced internally, with another 1.2 million seeking refuge across borders. Most schools are shuttered or struggling to re-open across the country, leaving 16.5 million children out of school.

With our strategic donor partners, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) has already provided more than US$33 million in investments towards a continued quality education during the ongoing crises in Sudan. Delivered with partners, such as Save the Children, UNICEF, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Mercy Corps, UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council, these investments have provided over 130,000 children with the safety and protection of quality learning environments.

To support the Regional Refugee Response Plan, ECW has also approved a significant new tranche of investments across the region. The new programming – provided in part through generous dedicated funding from the United Kingdom – includes Sudan and the neighboring countries in the Regional Refugee Response Plan: the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan. The catalytic grants are designed to pull in additional aligned and top-up funding and will be delivered by a variety of partners including governments, UN agencies, civil society and local organizations. Total ECW funding toward the Sudan regional refugee crisis now exceeds US$30 million. We need your help to do more.

The needs are far outpacing the funds available. According to OCHA's Financial Tracking Service, of the US$4.1 billion required for the humanitarian response, only US$419 million has been mobilized thus far. The humanitarian appeal for education calls for a total of US$108 million. Thus far in 2025, only US$7.9 million has been mobilized; that is just 7.4% of the total education sector requirement.

As a global community, we must prioritize humanitarian funding for education in Sudan and other crisis-impacted countries worldwide. Today's generation creates our future. The time to act is now. Their education cannot wait.  

CONTACT: Greg Benchwick, gbenchwick@unicef.org

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