Flying Drones Frighten Children and Disrupt Classes in Sudanese Schools

In El Obeid, drones flying overhead regularly force teachers to suspend lessons, according to Shashwat Saraf, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director in Sudan. Learning centers supported by the NRC and its partner AORD have enrolled more than 5,500 pupils, while a girls’ school has about 1,200 students and only three classrooms available. Recent strikes have hit civilian sites including a university dormitory, a shelter for displaced families and warehouses holding more than 330,000 textbooks. The NRC has provided cash assistance to 4,000 households and distributed 3,000 hygiene and shelter kits; its 12-month response plan aims to raise US$7.1 million to reach 107,000 people.