Sudan: Latest School Attack Highlights Grave Concerns for Children’s Education

In a devastating turn of events, nearly 500 days into the conflict in Sudan, a recent attack on schools in North Kordofan has claimed the lives of children and shattered the dreams of a safe return to the classroom. On August 14th, four schools in El-Obeid city were hit by shelling, with two of them being girls’ schools. The attack occurred during the daytime, when pupils were studying and playing, turning a safe space into a target that resulted in a high number of fatalities and injuries, mostly affecting children.

This latest attack comes as schools in El-Obeid city were just beginning to reopen, bringing a sense of normalcy to the area. However, the conflict has had a profound impact on education in Sudan, with over 12.5 million children missing more than an entire academic year and in danger of not being able to return to learning anytime soon. A staggering 10,400 schools are located in active conflict zones, and hundreds more are being used as shelters by internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

The attack on schools is a grave violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and a violation of the Safe Schools Declaration, an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict. Mohammed Qazilbash, Plan International’s Country Director in Sudan, emphasized the devastating impact of these attacks, stating, “The heaviest coffins to carry are the smallest ones. Children do not start wars but they are the ones who suffer the most.”

Plan International, a child rights and humanitarian NGO, is calling on all parties involved in the conflict to fulfill their obligations to protect civilians, especially children and girls, and to end grave violations specifically targeting them. The organization is also urging the international community to take immediate action to safeguard education in conflict zones and hold those responsible for these grave violations accountable.

As the conflict in Sudan continues to rage on, it is imperative that the international community comes together to protect the rights of children to education and to ensure that they are not forced to bear the brunt of this devastating conflict.