After decades of brutal violence, Sudan has been given a dubious distinction. It is the most dangerous place on the planet for children.

The country was given this title in a recent Reuters AlertNet poll of humanitarian experts, aid workers, and journalists from around the world.

Civil Strife
Internal conflicts in Sudan that have spanned more than two decades have killed a staggering two million people and created hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs). 

Sudan is currently in the news because of the atrocities being committed in the country's Darfur region. Brutal ethnic cleansing has meant that traumatic crimes such as looting, rape, and murder are being committed against children and their families.

The widespread violence in Darfur, has led to 1.75 million children living in desperate conditions. These children, many of whom were orphaned as a result of the conflict raging around them, live in and around crowded camps for IDPs. While these camps are places of refuge, the children live in a state of constant fear. Girls and young boys are attacked as they gather firewood, while teenage boys are forcibly recruited to join in armed conflicts.

The poverty in these camps leads to children and adults alike suffering malnutrition and other diseases. "We attend to over a hundred patients daily who suffer from diarrhea, malaria, and other preventable illnesses," says Dr. Sair Mohammed, a World Vision medical coordinator at the Otash camp for IDPs.

Bringing Hope
Despite the fact that their father was killed by a militia group, eight-year-old Fatima and nine-year-old Hawa have reason for hope. A World Vision-sponsored child friendly space gives the children safe areas to play, learn, and receive psychosocial support. These centres, which are run in the IDP camps of Darfur, have become second homes that help children overcome the trauma of being orphaned, or being physically or emotionally disabled. 

For youths, vocational and basic business training is also provided by World Vision. This training includes bread- and pasta-making, basketry, tailoring, needlecraft, and dressmaking.

Click here to help a child in Sudan through World Vision.