In Chad, UNICEF Emergency Aid For Refugee Children Fleeing Sudan War
By Brice Kevin Da
After more than two years of civil war in Sudan, the number of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees seeking safety in eastern Chad has ballooned to over 975,000, creating a deepening humanitarian crisis. UNICEF is there, providing urgently needed assistance for children and their families. More help is needed.
Halimé and her two children — Asmao, 2, and Zakaria, just 7 months old — rest at the temporary refugee location site in Tiné, Chad, near the border with Sudan. Fleeing violence in El Fasher, North Darfur, they began their journey on foot. "I crossed the border with my children, but my husband was taken by armed men," Halimé said. "I have no news from him. What will happen to us here? I don't know!"
© UNICEF/UNI789812/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
Since the surge of violence in Sudan in late April 2025, thousands of families have crossed the border into Chad on a daily basis, traumatized and burdened by the scars of war. Most are women and children, fleeing intense fighting in El Fasher, North Darfur.
Tiné, a border town, has become the main entry point for this flood of desperate souls — mothers carrying babies, exhausted and starving children, families clinging to hope amid devastation.
Loaded onto carts, tricycles, donkey backs, vehicles and even on foot, thousands of children and their families continue to cross the border every day.
© UNICEF/UNI789765/Da
UNICEF and its partners are on the ground in both Chad and in Sudan, responding swiftly by delivering lifesaving aid: safe water, child protection, emergency supplies and psychosocial support.
The scale of need is huge, and much more support is urgently needed to prevent further suffering.
s temperatures soar to 109 degrees Fahrenheit, mothers and children fleeing war in Sudan await transport to a transit site in Chad.
© UNICEF/UNI789826/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
With no safe place to shelter upon arrival, exhausted children and families huddle in the shade of trucks as they wait for transport to the transit site. Their faces reflect despair, uncertainty and the deep trauma of what they have endured.
Children fleeing conflict in Sudan take shelter underneath a truck in eastern Chad.
© UNICEF/UNI789833/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
Shortly after, in large groups, they are loaded onto massive trucks and transported to a transit site located about three miles away.
Salma and her five children wait for transport in Tiné. "What I experienced, I wouldn't wish on anyone," she says. "Some women were raped in front of their husbands and children, others were beaten while trying to stop the killing of their husbands. Our belongings, taken or destroyed. I don't know what we did to deserve such fate."
© UNICEF/UNI789819/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
Halimé and her two children, 2-year-old Asmao and 7-month-old Zackaria, began their journey on foot. Hours of walking under the unforgiving sun led them to join a group traveling by cart, eventually reaching Tiné, at the Chadian border. Their belongings? Just a mat and a few pieces of cloth, the only things they could carry.
Weary from their journey and trapped in desperate conditions, many children arrive with visible signs of malnutrition: hollow eyes, frail limbs and weakened bodies. With nothing to eat and nowhere safe to rest, their health deteriorates rapidly.
A UNICEF staff member plays with children at the child-friendly space set up by UNICEF in Tiné, Chad, near the Sudanese border.
© UNICEF/UNI789821/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
At the heart of the transit site, UNICEF has set up a child-friendly space: a haven where children receive psychological support to overcome the trauma of war, while also having the chance to play and interact with their peers.
In the child-friendly space at the heart of the Sudanese refugee relocation site, children can play and receive psychosocial support to help them cope with the trauma they have experienced.
© UNICEF/UNI789817/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
Without safe water, displaced children are at heightened risk of disease. UNICEF and its partners have set up water points, but the demand remains high, and the needs are far from being met. Now more than ever, support is needed to continue providing lifesaving water and essential services to those who need it the most.
"Access to safe drinking water has brought us tremendous relief," says Nassi Younouss, a mother of two. "Now, we don't have to worry about waterborne diseases, and our children can drink and bathe without fear. It's a huge comfort for all the families here."
Nassi Younouss, a Sudanese refugee, fetches water from a water point set up by UNICEF at a temporary relocation site in Tiné, eastern Chad.
© UNICEF/UNI789831/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved.
The humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad continues to unfold, with families torn apart, children left vulnerable and entire communities struggling to survive. In support of the response to the refugee crisis led by the Chadian government, UNICEF is working to provide shelter, clean water, food, protection, access to education, dignified sanitation facilities, basic health care and proper nutrition. Support from donors can make a life-changing difference.
Learn more about UNICEF's global efforts to meet the urgent needs of displaced and refugee children and to protect their rights.
Your contribution to UNICEF is more important than ever. Please donate.
Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
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