Sudan: 'Sudan Is Losing Another Generation' to War, Mohammed Warns

What the report says

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed warned Security Council members on Friday that Sudan’s war is pushing millions of children out of school and threatening the country’s future. Speaking during an informal Arria-formula meeting on safeguarding education in Sudan, she said the conflict, now more than 1,000 days old, has left children displaced, exposed to serious violations and cut off from learning.

According to the UN News report distributed by AllAfrica, at least eight million school-age children in Sudan are currently outside the classroom. Mohammed said the impact has been especially severe for displaced children, including those who have crossed into neighboring countries. She also pointed to heavy damage to schools in Darfur, where nearly three quarters of schools have been damaged, destroyed or made unusable since fighting began in April 2023.

Mohammed said attacks on schools amount to attacks on children’s safety, dignity and access to services such as feeding programs, health care and psychosocial support. She noted that more than 67 attacks on schools have been verified since 2024 and that schools have also been used by armed actors, though the broader scale is likely larger. More than half of Sudan’s teachers have gone unpaid, even as many continue working.

The UN says more than a million Sudanese children have returned to some form of learning this year, but Mohammed argued that much more is needed. She urged the Security Council to help end the conflict and create conditions for peace, saying children in Sudan should not have to wait any longer for the war to stop.