Sudan

Summary of Needs

Over 31.4 million people, nearly half of whom are children, require humanitarian assistance in Sudan. Widespread insecurity, flooding, risk of famine, and disease outbreaks, including cholera, heighten child protection risks. Prolonged displacement and traumatic experiences are adversely affecting children's growth, development, and wellbeing. Children face abduction, sexual violence, child marriage¹, child labour, recruitment into armed groups, and trafficking. In 2024 alone, over 60,000 cases of abuse and exploitation were reported, with a 480 per cent increase in grave violations², making Sudan one of the highest prevelence countries for such incidents.

The conflict has displaced 5 million children³, many of whom are unaccompanied due to separation from caregivers. Both boys and girls suffer from severe psychological trauma, nightmares and emotional distress⁴. Girls face increased risks of child marriage and GBV, including sexual violence used as a weapon of war⁵, while boys are at risk of forced recruitment and detention. Limited access to health, education, and child protection services⁶ exacerbates the crisis, as many facilities have been attacked and are under-resourced, while humanitarian staff have been affected themselves.

Response Strategy

The Child Protection Area of Responsibility will be guided by the following Sectoral Objectives (SO) using a socio-ecological approach consistent with child protection minimum standards (CPMS).

SO1: The needs of highly vulnerable children and their caregivers are addressed through well-coordinated, specialized child protection response strategies, including comprehensive case management services to children at risk of separation, violence, neglect and abuse.

SO2: Child Protection risks are mitigated by working across sectors for more holistic child protection and enhancing the protective environment among children, families, and communities through prevention and risk mitigation methods, including addressing negative social norms.

SO3: The overall well-being and safeguarding environment for girls and boys is enhanced through multi-layered mental health and psychosocial support, family strengthening and community-level strategies, and inter-agency coordination to promote effective situation and response monitoring, localization, and advocacy.

Priorities for strengthening quality child protection interventions include:

• Supporting individual children in vulnerable situations and their caregivers through quality child protection case management, including focused MHPSS, family tracing and reunification, alternative care, inter-agency standard operating procedures and ethical information management for case management to strengthen the implementation of CPIMS+, and referrals to other service providers.
• Enhancing the family and caregiving environment through positive parenting support and MHPSS for caregivers.
• Strengthening community-level strategies by improving support for community groups/networks addressing harmful social norms and identifying risks, facilitating safe case referrals, developing risk mitigation strategies, and providing psychological first aid to children and their families.
• Expanding localized, high-quality services through inter-agency coordination and collaboration, including capacity building for child protection personnel, local social service workers, civil society, local authorities, and other relevant sectors, to increase access to safer, more comprehensive services for children. Areas of focus include training and coaching on child protection response strategies per the CPMS, child safeguarding, and child protection mainstreaming and integration along with supporting the harmonization of incentive systems and job descriptions.
• Strengthening Information Management Systems, including the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanisms (MRM+), and child protection situation and response monitoring systems.

Targeting and Prioritization

The Child Protection AoR, in consultation with sub-national coordinators, Government and non-government organizations, and based on the 2024 MSNA, DTM, Hotspot Analysis, MRM and the Child Protection Information Management System, considered access constraints and dynamic conditions in developing the targeting and prioritization strategy.

The following priorities have been identified:

• Focus on commonly underserved internally displaced children across all five severity levels (100 per cent).
• Allocate resources to 50 per cent of children in hosting communities and 30 per cent in non-hosting communities, specifically targeting localities with severity levels 3 and above.
• Effectively address critical needs in hard-to-reach areas experiencing high severity and reported violations of IHL.

Cost of Response

To support 3.1 million children, the CP AoR seeks $90.63 million. Priorities include specialized services for vulnerable children facing separation, violence, exploitation, and abuse, alongside strengthening community-based structures to address child protection risks.