Briefing journalists in Geneva on Friday, Eva Hinds, the UN child agency’s Chief of Communications, described a humanitarian response that is fragile, painstaking and essential, following her return from a 10-day mission to Darfur.

For nearly three years, rival militaries who were former allies have been battling for control of the shattered country, engaged in a brutal civil conflict that has destablised multiple countries bordering Sudan. 

“In Darfur today, reaching a single child can take days of negotiation, security clearances, and travel across sand roads under shifting frontlines,” she said. “Nothing about this crisis is simple: every movement is hard-won, every delivery fragile.”

City built from fear

Ms. Hinds had just returned from Tawila, in North Darfur, where she witnessed what she described as an entire city rebuilt from desperation. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled violence and erected makeshift shelters from sticks, hay and plastic sheeting.

“Over 500,000 to 600,000 people are sheltering there,” she reported. “But standing inside that vast expanse of makeshift shelters was overwhelming. It felt like an entire city uprooted and rebuilt out of necessity and fear.”

Despite the insecurity and logistical hurdles, UNICEF and its partners are still reaching children.

Effective aid operation

In just two weeks, more than 140,000 children were vaccinated, thousands treated for illness and malnutrition, safe water restored to tens of thousands, and temporary classrooms opened.

“It is painstaking, precarious work – delivered one convoy, one clinic, one classroom at a time – but for children in Darfur, it is the thin line between being abandoned and being reached,” Ms Hinds said.

She described meeting Doha, a teenage girl newly arrived from Al Fasher, who dreams of returning to school and one day teaching English. “Her name refers to the soft light just after sunrise,” Ms Hinds said. “She embodies that image – hopeful and determined.”

‘The children are freezing’

At a nutrition site, she met Fatima, a young girl being treated for malnutrition after losing her mother to the conflict.

At a centre for women and girls, mothers spoke of having no food, blankets or warm clothes for their children. “The children are freezing,” one mother told her. “We have nothing to cover them with.”

“These personal stories reflect only a small part of a much wider situation,” Ms Hinds said, stressing that Sudan is now the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, yet one of the least visible.

“What I witnessed is a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding on a massive scale,” she warned.

“Sudan’s children urgently need international attention and decisive action. Without it, the horrors facing the country’s youngest and most vulnerable will only deepen.”

Briefing journalists based at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday, Anita Kiki Gbeho, Officer in Charge of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said Jonglei has become a ‘flashpoint’ for fighting, with civilians caught in the crossfire.

With over 200,000 people displaced by the conflict this month, the senior official – who also serves as Resident Coordinator – warned of a ‘sharp surge’ in cholera cases. 

Over 500 were reported nationwide this month whilst treatment centres are ‘overwhelmed’ and ‘critically short’ of supplies. 

Aid delivery difficulties

Although aid efforts are continuing with government support, access continues to be ‘severely challenged’ by road and river restrictions that are preventing aid distribution and medical evacuations. 

The world’s youngest nation gained independence in 2011 but soon slid into civil war with fighting between forces loyal to the national army under President Salva Kiir and those supporting main opposition leader Riek Machar, who is currently on trial facing serious charges, including murder, which he denies. 

Check out our explainer on the long running conflict, here.

A Government offensive got underway this week in three counties of Jonglei following opposition gains. All civilians and aid workers were urged to evacuate.

Humanitarian facilities ‘looted’ 

Ms. Gbeho told reporters that “humanitarian facilities are being looted and damaged (including at least seven [sites] in Jonglei), assets are being confiscated, and aid workers intimidated,” while the UN peacekeeping force is facing “similar challenges”. 

The disruptions to aid and peacebuilding efforts are having an “intolerable impact on people,” with the mission warning that “all the conditions for a human catastrophe are present.”

Speaking online from South Sudan, Ms. Gbeho underscored that despite the release of $10 million to support the humanitarian response from the Central Emergency Relief Fund, “more support is needed.” 

Restore peace 

Despite the shortages of supplies, Ms. Gbeho stated that the priority is “to stop the fighting, protect civilians and preserve the peace process” and to work with the African Union and the IGAD bloc of nations in the region to “restore adherence to the [2018] peace agreement.” 

Echoing the remarks of the Secretary-General on Thursday, Ms. Gbeho reiterated that “the solution to the current crisis is political, not military”, calling on the country’s leaders to take “urgent, immediate action to cease hostilities, de-escalate tensions through inclusive dialogue, and return to consensus-based decision-making”. 

‘A defining moment’

To conclude, Ms. Gbeho emphasised that “the power to make positive change rests with the South Sudanese themselves.” 

She described the juncture as “a defining moment – a critical junction for South Sudan. The decisions it makes now could either lead them on a path towards peace or to further conflict.”