Almost three years of war in Sudan have left more than eight million children out of education for nearly 500 days, the NGO Save the Children said Thursday, highlighting one of the world's longest school closures. "More than eight million children –- nearly half of the 17 million of school age –- have gone approximately 484 days without setting foot in a classroom," the children's rights organisation said in a statement. Sudan has been ravaged since April 2023 by a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). North Darfur in western Sudan is the country's hardest-hit state: only three percent of its more than 1,100 schools are still functioning. On Sunday, UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk condemned the increasing number of attacks against "essential civilian infrastructure" in Sudan, including hospitals, markets, and schools.

Source: Ethiopian News January 22, 2026 13:01 UTC