For the love of football in Sudan

Children across Sudan continue to pay a devastating price for the conflict

After more than a year brutal civil warMore than half of Sudan’s 24 million children – approximately 14 million – are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. A rapid deterioration in food security has led to a devastating hunger crisis on a scale not seen since the Darfur crisis in the early 2000s. More than 4 million children have been driven from their homes by violence. Nearly 90 percent of school-age children do not go to school.

In a camp for internally displaced persons in Gadaref state, it is rare to see a smile on 13-year-old Mohammed’s face, even after countless jokes. But when the conversation turns to his favorite game: football, an unexpected, broad smile appears. Next to him is an orange ball that his hands and legs are pulled towards as he talks.

The old ball lacks enough air to support a full match. Nevertheless, when the kids get together, they kick it up and down, and it continues to serve its purpose.

Mohammed’s love for the sport is not something new. It dates back to his time back home in Gezira State, where he played football with his friends, something he misses dearly.

“I like playing football. I love playing it so much,” he says, beaming.

UNICEF’s child-friendly spaces provide children with a safe place to play, learn and just be kids

The UNICEF supported a child-friendly space where Mohammed is present every day has provided him with a safe space where he and his peers can play a game he cherishes.

During conflict, UNICEF and its partners create child-friendly spaces where displaced children can play, learn, sing, communicate and feel safe again. In Gedaref, Mohammed has found and embraced such a space, which continues to help him rediscover his childhood dream: to become a famous footballer.

“What I like most in the child-friendly space is football,” says Mohammed.

When he’s not playing football, Mohammed spends time chatting with his new friends, all of whom have been displaced by the ongoing war. Occasionally they take a walk to the market and climb the nearby mountains for adventure.

A sudden departure, followed by loss and displacement

The day his family was displaced started like any other, but quickly turned into a nightmare as the shooting intensified, forcing Mohammed and his father to flee. The war had finally reached their home, making it unsafe. They had to leave quickly and had to make difficult decisions about what to take with them and what to leave behind.

Afraid of leaving his animals behind, Mohammed’s father asked his son to flee with a neighbor while he chased the animals. What Mohammed didn’t know was how long it would be before he would see his father again.

On the way, he tried to turn around when he realized his father was nowhere to be seen. “But the shooting was heavy, so he couldn’t do it. He continued the journey with us,” recalled neighbor Abdalla, who is now Mohammed’s guardian.

“My father told me he would bring the cows. He told me to move on and that he would soon follow,” Mohammed recalls sadly.

It’s been six months now. During the first days after their separation, Mohammed’s father was able to communicate with him, but frequent telecommunications outages made it impossible to connect. Every day he worries about his father, mother and siblings who are left behind. No one saw or heard them.

Through social workers in the child-friendly space, unaccompanied children like Mohammed are identified, registered, provided with psychosocial support and regularly visited to assess the progress of their well-being while tracing their families.

UNICEF supports and protects isolated and separated children

UNICEF defines unaccompanied children as children who are separated from both parents or primary caregivers and other family members, while separated children are separated from both parents or primary caregivers, but not necessarily from other family members.

During conflict, many children become unaccompanied or separated from their parents due to the displacement or loss of their parents. Lacking the protection of the adults responsible for them, unaccompanied and separated children are often exposed to increased protection risks, such as violence, abuse, gender-based violence, exploitation and human trafficking. It is estimated that of all displaced children in Sudan, approximately 4 percent are unaccompanied and separated.

Today, Mohammed remains under the guardianship of Abdalla and his family in a makeshift structure at an internally displaced persons shelter that doubles as a child-friendly space. Their needs are enormous: they have to survive on just one meal a day and little bedding to cover the children, including Mohammed, at night.

Mohammed benefits from regular visits to Asmhan, a social worker from Depth Action Organization, UNICEF’s implementing partner. They discuss various issues, but his persistent request is to return home and be reunited with his father and the rest of his family. Together they find solutions to Mohammed’s tough questions, a true testament to the resilience of frontline workers like Asmhan, who continue to support children as they deal with new challenges brought on by war and displacement.

What worries me most is my family; I miss them so much. When I see them again I will be very happy. I will hold them very tight and cry with them. –Mohammed, 13

“What worries me most is my family; I miss them so much,” says Mohammed with tears in his eyes. “When I see them again I will be very happy. I will hold them very tight and cry with them.”

During the ongoing conflict, UNICEF continues to strengthen social services staff to identify and document unaccompanied and separated children to support family reunification or provide alternative care, placing them with foster families.

Keeping his dream alive

While he waits for the day he will see his family again, Mohammed immerses himself in the sport that brings him so much happiness. On each occasion he leads his colleagues in a football match, selecting different teams, the referee and the space. Given his knowledge, his colleagues follow his example. He is the master of the game. When the game is over, he carries his ball almost everywhere.

His love for Real Madrid, a Spanish team, will not fade, nor will his dreams of becoming a professional footballer and architect, who will one day build a house for his family and help rebuild his country.

He holds on to his dreams as he waits for the day he will see his family walk through the door.

The child displacement crisis in Sudan is the largest in the world

“The war is creating a deadly combination of displacement, disease and hunger – the perfect storm for conflict-induced famine and catastrophic loss of children’s lives,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement. rack issued on June 26, after a visit to Port Sudan.

“Whether they are stuck between the front lines, driven from their homes or witnessing the tearing apart of their communities, children’s lives have been turned upside down. This is the largest child displacement crisis in the world. Children don’t start wars, but they do pay the highest price. We want the world to know what is happening to the children of Sudan and urge all parties to stop the violence and end this war.”

Read more about UNICEF’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

UNICEF is providing urgent assistance to the children of Sudan, but more help is needed. Your contribution will make a difference. Please donate.

Donate

* Mohammed’s name has been changed to protect his privacy.

This story is adapted from unicef.org