Safe spaces for all children in Sudan
UNICEF creates safe learning spaces for children affected by the ongoing war, including those with disabilities
The morning sunlight rays piece the room, interrupting 9-year-old Alsmany’s sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he struggles to rise. It’s 6:00 a.m., the start of a new day. Alsmany, the youngest of the family, was born with a disability, but is remarkably independent, accomplishing much on his own.
Alsmany hastens through his morning routine, as his mother, Fatima, watches on. He quickly takes his breakfast- a cup of coffee and a piece of bread. Displaced by war in Khartoum, Alsmany’s family now resides in a shelter turned school in Kassala state, joining other displaced families.
The ongoing war in Sudan has displaced millions, taking a heavy toll on children, especially those with disabilities. These children often face discrimination and violence and are more likely to be left behind during conflict. Their daily challenges are compounded by the upheaval of displacement and the adjustment to new surroundings.
UNICEF and its partners are on the ground and ensuring that children like Alsmany are not left behind. At Al Salam internally displaced persons’ gathering site, now Alsmany’s home, UNICEF has established an inclusive safe learning space to support children on the move. These spaces provide crucial support for children to process, heal and recover from past traumatic experiences, access structured learning, mental health services, psychosocial support, and referral pathways as well as health care and child protective services.
“We focus on all children, both displaced and from host communities, paying special attention to children with disabilities,” explains Jabir Adomah, UNICEF’s Education Officer.
The centre is providing children with a package of integrated services including psychosocial support, mental health support, play, a health clinic, clean water and digital learning.
Digital learning through play
Today is special for Alsmany as the schedule includes a digital learning session. Excitedly, he joins his peers, each equipped with a tablet and cyan blue headphones. “He is excited to go to the learning centre,” Fatima said. “Today he kept saying we are going to use the tablet.”
Digital learning provides self-paced, individualized instruction, allowing Alsmany and others to engage with simplified lessons.
Alsmany loves digital learning and is always the first to arrive for the session. “He always comes ready and excited in the morning and loves to participate in all activities,” shares Ryan, his teacher.
Digital learning has become a significant opportunity to ensure crisis-affected children whose education has been interrupted by the conflict and the subsequent school closures, are learning. UNICEF is using e-learning to offer at-risk children an innovative alternative learning programme with gamified content on solar-powered tablets offering psychosocial support and enabling school-age children to continue learning under an array of subjects (English, Mathematics, Arabic, Science and IT).
Today, Alsmany is learning the alphabet. When he hovers around one letter, the next one appears. How easy. He also learns colour codes through a matching game. The content on the tablets is simplified and easily understood.
“One of the advantages of digital learning is children learn through play,” Ryan stressed.
The digital learning session is preceded by a daily assembly where all the children converge and participate in singing and bonding before they are guided on the day’s activities. Alsmany also leads some of the sessions as the other children sing, clap, count, and jump after him.
After the digital learning, Alsmany’s favourite activities are the morning assembly and playing football with his friends at the space.
As part of its emergency response, UNICEF is creating integrated safe spaces, in areas where children and families have fled to escape violence. Through digital learning, children are also catching up on learning activities having been out of school since the conflict started – now 11 months.
We cannot do this alone. UNICEF thanks the German Cooperation through the KfW Development Bank for supporting the resilience of children and families in Sudan.
