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Sudan’s war has displaced millions, leaving parts of the country facing famine. Aid agencies warn children are bearing the brunt as food shortages worsen and humanitarian funding declines.

"The reality for children in Sudan is growing darker hour by hour," Eva Hinds, spokeswoman for the UN's children's agency (UNICEF), said last week as the country's civil war entered its fourth year. 

The conflict broke out in April 2023 between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) following the collapse of a fragile transition to civilian rule after Sudan's 2019 uprising.

Fighting has since spread across much of the country, devastating cities and displacing more than 13 million people, the World Health Organization reported. 

More than 4,300 children have been killed or maimed since the war began, according to UNICEF, with Darfur and Kordofan states accounting for the highest numbers. 

Ashan Abeywardena, emergency response manager at War Child, an organization working to ensure a safer future for every child caught up in war, said the conflict had had a severe impact on minors.

"Going through three years of conflict has had a massive impact on these children and women. Children's daily lives are shaped by news of death and destruction," Abeywardena told DW.

Many of the deaths and injuries have been caused by indiscriminate drone attacks — a weapon that is increasingly used by both sides in the conflict.

"Drones are killing and wounding girls and boys in their homes, in markets, on the roads, near schools and health facilities — all places that should never be targets," UNICEF's Hinds told reporters.

"In the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes," UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said. 

Both the RSF and SAF have used drones to attack civilian infrastructure in a bid to slow the advance of their opponents. The effect is that hospitals, roads, and schools have been destroyed, further worsening the plight of the civilian population.

The effects of the war are being felt throughout East Africa.

DW Kenya correspondent Andrew Wasike said the conflict is no longer seen as contained within Sudan.

"In East Africa, the war is not just a distant conflict. It's both a humanitarian catastrophe and a regional security problem," Wasike said, adding that displacement, disrupted trade routes and political tensions are weighing on neighboring countries.

"The conversation is no longer only about Khartoum or Darfur. We are all feeling the impact," he added. 

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Despite the scale of suffering, Sudan has struggled to remain a global priority. The United Nations' top official in the country, Denise Brown, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said the crisis-ridden country has effectively been abandoned. She described widespread atrocities documented by the UN, including systematic sexual violence, sieges that have left whole communities facing famine, and mass killings.

She pointed to a particularly deadly episode last year, when thousands were reportedly killed within days during fighting in the city of el-Fasher.

"My question is, what is the world waiting for?" she asked, calling for the kind of global response seen in other major crises.

Now that call is getting attention in Berlin. Germany hosted an international conference last week to raise funds to help those affected by the war.

Ahead of the conference, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was hopeful that more than $1 billion (around €850 million) could be raised.

He later announced that €1.3 billion had been pledged, following the $1 billion raised at last year's donor conference in London. 

This article has been adapted from an episode of DW's AfricaLink podcast.