Thousands of children have been recruited to fight in the multiple military groups in Sudan.  Sudan has been subject to two civil wars as well as the war in Darfur in the last century, and fighting is among several groups of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds.  A majority of these military groups, including the government, have used child soldiers.  These groups include the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the Popular Defence Forces (PDF), the Armed Movement of Liberals and Reform, Janjaweed, the Border Intelligence Forces, the Central Reserve Police, the many different factions of the Sudan Liberation Army, pro-government militias, Chad opposition groups, the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army, and many others.

The government and insurgent groups have forcibly recruited child soldiers or at least have not deterred children from associating with them.  Groups such as the LRA have entered into Sudan and have kidnapped civilians and forced them to join their ranks.  Chadian opposition groups have recruited soldiers across borders, sometimes through the use of torture.  SAF and SPLA have acknowledged the use of child soldiers, and there have been reported cases of the SPLA raiding schools for recruits.

Children have been caught in between the crossfire of guns, grenades, and bombs and killed.  They are used as trained soldiers but also as porters, cooks, guards, and messengers.