12/04/2026
🚨 Girls’ Education Under Fire: An Urgent Appeal to Support Girls' Education in Sudan
Tomorrow, thousands of girls will sit for the Sudanese Secondary School Certificate Examinations, but many will be unable to do so primarily because they are being caught up in conflict areas, blocked by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), or because of financial difficulties and the continued absence of support for education in . On the other hand, hundreds of girls have endured trauma and hardship as they seek access to education under extremely dangerous circumstances.
Throughout Sudan war years, access to education has sharply declined, particularly girls' education, transforming what should be a basic right into a journey shaped by fear, displacement, and violence. For many girls, the struggle to continue their education has unfolded amid grave violations, including sexual violence and exploitation, with devastating and lasting consequences.
In the past two weeks, more than 1800 students have arrived in Atbara City, River Nile State, from , while over 300 girls from rural have reached El-Obied city of North Kordofan. Some girls travelled 700 km and faced theft, intimidation, and violence along the route, while others were threatened with detention by the RSF if they were caught taking the national exams. Thousands of girls could not reach the exam centres at all due to these threats and the extreme dangers along the transportation routes.
SIHA Network calls for urgent and collective coordinated actions by the warning parties across Sudan to enable students to access education.
The Sudan Ministry of Education and international humanitarian actors must collaborate to ensure safe passages for students, expand protection and emergency support for girls' education, and guarantee students access to psychosocial care and other forms of urgent support.
The continued obstruction of girls’ access to education through threats, intimidation, and violence must be treated as a grave protection failure for civilians and children and as part of the sequence of atrocities shaping the war in Sudan.
Today, we stand in solidarity with Sudanese students asserting their right to education and urgently call for action to ensure their safe and dignified access.
📸 Photo Credit: Ayin Network
