Drone strikes and drought push Sudan’s children deeper into crisis, UNICEF warns
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, Elder said that up to 15 power stations were struck by armed drones in October, with at least one strike recorded every day during the final week of the month. He described the attacks as a serious escalation in strikes on civilian infrastructure.
The damage is particularly severe because electricity is essential to water supply and treatment in Sudan. When power stations are hit, water pumps and treatment facilities stop working, forcing families to rely on expensive and unsafe alternatives. Elder said pockets of cholera were again being reported in hard-to-reach communities, including among internally displaced people.
Power cuts are also disrupting vaccine and medicine storage, while farmers are losing access to irrigation. Together with fuel shortages and poor rainfall, irrigation disruptions are threatening harvests and pushing food prices higher. The planting window for the 2026-2027 cereal harvest has largely closed, Elder said, adding that even if the rains arrive late, they will not reverse the damage.
The crisis comes as an estimated 825,000 children under five in Sudan are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. Drones are also taking a heavy toll: two-thirds of child casualties recorded in the country this year were caused by drone attacks, according to Elder.
He described meeting a teenager named Burie in a displacement camp. The boy lost both hands in an explosion but continues to study online and collect grass for animals, with help from his friends.
Despite the worsening conditions, UNICEF and its partners have treated hundreds of thousands of children for severe acute malnutrition, helped provide healthcare to more than 2.5 million people and vaccinated millions of children. They have also repaired and solar-powered water systems, helping maintain safe water supplies for nearly 8 million people, helped millions of children return to learning and provided protection and psychosocial support to 1.5 million children and families.
However, UNICEF’s response in Sudan is only one-third funded, Elder said.
The agency is calling for an end to violence against children and attacks on civilian infrastructure, safe humanitarian access across conflict lines, and action by those with influence to protect children and civilians and stop the flow of weapons. It also calls for sustained, flexible funding to keep essential services running, including safe water supplies, healthcare, nutrition, education and child protection.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported the UN warned that nearly 90 million forcibly displaced people worldwide are living in countries highly exposed to extreme heat, droughts and floods, facing growing threats to their safety and livelihoods.
