Education on hold: Sudan war robs young people’s hope for the future

 

When Ibrahim Abdulrahman’s name was announced on national radio as the top performing student in the country’s high school examinations in 2020, his achievement was celebrated by everyone in his small mountainous village of Al-Dambaire in Sudan’s North Kordofan State.

“My friends could not believe the news,” Ibrahim recounted. “I ran to my parents and told them that I obtained the highest score in Sudan.”

He described the exuberant atmosphere in the village when local leaders including government officials visited his school the next day to congratulate him.

“It was a very happy moment for me,” he said.

Dreams on hold
Upon hearing the news, Ibrahim knew exactly what he wanted to do next. The following year, he enrolled at the University of Khartoum to study agriculture and pursue his long-term dream of becoming the country’s agriculture minister.

This dream was abruptly put on hold barely two years later when fierce fighting erupted in the capital, Khartoum.

“We hoped the situation would get better so we could continue with our work and education,” said Ibrahim. “But day by day the fighting got worse. After one month, I took the decision to head back home to North Kordofan, to my family.”

Now in its second year, the war in Sudan has disrupted education for millions of young people. More than 90 per cent of Sudan’s 19 million school-age children have no access to formal education according to the UN.

“By robbing children and young people of their education, the conflict is stealing their future,” said Kristine Hambrouck, the UN Refugee Agency’s Representative in Sudan. “The education of Sudan’s potential leaders like Ibrahim is at risk. Their dreams are being shattered by violence and displacement.”

Largest displacement crisis
Since 15 April 2023, when the war broke out, more than 10 million people have fled their homes in Sudan. This number includes over 2 million who have crossed into neighbouring countries in search of safety. It is now the largest displacement crisis in the world.

In Ibrahim’s village, in North Kordofan, armed groups were looting harvests and forcing people to abandon their farms. He and his family joined hundreds of others from surrounding villages and fled for their lives.

After 15 days of traveling – sometimes having to hide in the bushes – they reached Kosti city in White Nile State.

“I was happy to be safe,” said Ibrahim. “We are very grateful to those who provided food and shelter to my family and others when we came here.”

In White Nile State alone, 1.3 million Sudanese are living in displacement camps or are hosted by local communities.

The unprecedented influx has put pressure on the already limited community resources and public services like health care and water supply.

UNHCR is coordinating with the Government and other humanitarian agencies to provide displaced people like Ibrahim and his family life-saving assistance like food, water, health care, household items, and cash assistance. But the needs are multiplying every day.

“UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in Sudan do not have enough resources to reach even the most vulnerable people. We urgently need more support to scale up our response,” said Hambrouck.

Lost future
Schools across the country have been turned from places of learning into shelters for the displaced. Ibrahim’s family is now staying in a primary school where up to 80 people are crammed into a single classroom with no privacy and not enough space to sleep. One wall is covered with black soot from the open fire families use to cook their meals together.

Every day that he wakes up in the classroom is a stark reminder of the education he is missing out on, but he has not given up on his dreams entirely.

“I still hope that one day the situation will be good in Sudan and war will stop,” he said. “We will go back to our normal life, and we will go back to our universities.”

“I still have hope of being the Minister of Agriculture or an economic expert.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).