The crisis in Sudan is driving South Sudanese refugees living in the country to return home, only to find themselves lost in troubled borders with no homes to return to and constantly living in fear of the unknowns. When we met, Ajang, 35, she was struggling bare-handed to set up a makeshift tent in the transit camp in Renk, a county in South Sudan’s Upper Nile region where most of the arrivals – Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees – enter through one of South Sudan’s border points.

Azida’s Childhood has been torn apart by a barbed wire fence on which one side is her home, Myanmar; and the other side is Bangladesh, where she is called a “Refugee”. Five years ago, when Azida was only six years old, she was forced to leave her home as well as a part of her sweet childhood. Eleven-year-old Azida lives in the largest refugee camp in the World in Cox’s Bazar which is home to one million Rohingya refugees and half a million children.

As violent clashes in Sudan continue, UNICEF and the child-focused NGOs World Vision and Save the Children are highlighting the danger to children if the current ceasefire is not respected by all parties. Millions of vulnerable girls and boys need immediate humanitarian assistance, and all children need to be protected from harm.

Humanitarian needs in Syria are currently at their highest, while funding continues to dwindle year after year.  The recent earthquakes of February 6th have only added to their complex layers of suffering, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, the NGO adds. Many Syrian children have known nothing but war as the protracted conflict reaches its twelfth year today and they now risk once again being forgotten by the international community. World Vision has released a policy brief outlining the dire situation of children and their families in Syria today.

There is a mental health crisis, especially among children, in Northwest Syria, as a result of the earthquakes which first struck on 6 February 2023 (one month ago today) and the conflict which began 12 years ago this month. Mental health experts believe that the devastation of the earthquake, and the series of aftershocks and displacement resulting from it, will further worsen the mental health needs of children. 

The already stretched child protection system in Northwest Syria is now inundated with extremely high numbers of unaccompanied children, many of whom have lost one or both parents. UNICEF estimates that 2.5 million Syrian children have been impacted by the earthquake.

Because food on the table was not sufficient, Safia's mother could not produce enough milk to breastfeed Safia. Safia was very weak and could not move a lot. World Vision's mobile health clinic provided timely aid. With regular check-ups and nutrition packages, Safia was able to recover.