"Drones and drought are closing in on Sudan's children from both sides. It is an assault unlike anything we have seen in Sudan's history.
"In the last week of October, not a single day passed without an armed drone striking a power station in Sudan. Up to 15 were hit in the month. At the same time, amid all the global warnings about El Niño, in Sudan the damage has already begun. Indeed, even if late rains arrive, they cannot undo the damage done. The planting window for the 2026-27 cereal harvest has largely closed. But still the drones keep coming.
"Repeated strikes have hit key sites across Sudan's power grid. Spreading geographically and coming in quick succession, the attacks represent a serious escalation in attacks on civilian infrastructure.
"Let me explain why, together, drones and drought are so lethal for children: In Sudan, power is water. When a power station is struck, water pumps stop and water treatment stops. Families are forced onto expensive and unsafe alternatives. Disease spreads. We are again seeing pockets of cholera in some of the hardest-to-reach communities, including among internally displaced families.
"The cold storage that keeps vaccines and medicines viable is threatened. Farmers lose irrigation because the pumps run on electricity and there are cripplingly fuel shortages. Harvests suffer, prices keep rising, and food slips further out of reach for more and more families. A lethal cycle kicks in.
"All this at a time when an estimated 825,000 children under five in Sudan are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year - the type that kills.
"This year in Sudan, two in three child casualties were caused by drones. They are bringing the war to places that were once safe. People here talk about three things: safety, education and water. Armed drones are taking all three.
"In camps last week I met children whose arms and hands were blown off in this war. Burie is a teenager. An explosive took both his hands. He lives in a tent. He told me, 'I must accept this as it is.' He spends his mornings learning online and his afternoons picking grass for the animals, with stumps for hands. His friends help him.
"That is Sudan. It is relentless, it is crushing, and still Sudanese people hold each other up.
"There is a response, and it is an impressive one. Working side by side with communities, UNICEF and partners have treated hundreds of thousands of children for the deadliest form of malnutrition. We have helped provide healthcare to more than a 2.5 million people and vaccinated millions of children against deadly diseases. We have repaired and solarised water systems, helping to keep safe water flowing for close to 8 million. We have helped get millions of children back to learning. And we have reached 1.5 million children and families with protection, mental health and psychosocial support.
"But with so many crises at once, everything is stretched to breaking point. UNICEF's response in Sudan is just one-third funded. People here are showing remarkable strength, but resilience cannot run on goodwill alone.
"UNICEF is calling for three things.
"First, an end to violence against children and attacks on power stations, water systems and the civilian infrastructure they depend on.
"Second, safe access across conflict lines, and for those with influence to protect children and civilians, and stop the flow of weapons that are killing and injuring children.
"Third, urgent, sustained and flexible funding to keep essential services running: safe water; treatment for malnourished children; healthcare; education; and protection for children.
"For three and a half years, the suffering of Sudan's children has been met with silence. So what does it take? Must Sudanese children face an existential threat before the world takes notice? Well, it's here. When the power goes, the water pumps stop. When the rains fail, the food runs out. Sudan's children are now facing both at once. If the world is waiting for something worse, it will be waiting at their graves."
