At least three babies per minute are being born into Sudan's brutal civil war, Save the Children warned as the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces reaches its third anniversary on April 15. The charity said official data shows 5.6 million births since fighting erupted in April 2023 — roughly 5,000 children entering the world each day in a country where millions survive on a single meal.
"These children are born in overcrowded shelters, under-equipped or damaged health facilities, or while their families are on the move," said Mohamed Abdiladif, Save the Children's country director in Sudan, according to Al Jazeera. The war, rooted in a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, has killed tens of thousands, displaced some 12 million, and created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The toll on Sudan's healthcare system has been catastrophic. Up to 80 percent of health facilities in conflict-affected areas are nonoperational. Maternal mortality has risen more than 12 percent, climbing from 263 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2022 to 295 per 100,000 in 2025. The World Health Organization has verified roughly 200 attacks on health facilities since the war began, killing more than 2,000 people.
In one of the most devastating recent incidents, a drone attack on the al-Daein Teaching Hospital in East Darfur in March killed at least 64 people, including 13 children and several healthcare workers, and left the entire facility nonfunctional. Both warring sides have been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the RSF implicated in atrocities in Darfur that UN experts say bear the hallmarks of genocide.
Save the Children called on all parties to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access, warning that attacks on medical infrastructure "severely and permanently" cut off mothers and newborns from essential care.
