Wars in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere have made 2024 a brutal and bloody 12 months. For this year’s Guardian and Observer appeal, in aid of three conflict-linked charities, we are asking readers to give out of compassion for those affected, and in the hope of promoting peace in a safer world. As well as alleviating immediate suffering, and saving lives, our voluntary-sector partners play a vital role in helping to restore civil society in places where it is devastated by conflict. Their work with children, in particular, is essential to efforts to build a better future.
The year began with fierce fighting and mass displacements in southern Gaza. February saw the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while April marked a year since fighting broke out in Sudan between the military and Rapid Support Forces rebels. In each country civilians have suffered terrible losses. Children in the occupied territories are regarded by the UN as having faced human rights violations on an “unprecedented scale”. Reports from Ukraine and Sudan have included horrifying evidence about the use of rape and sexual torture as weapons of war, among other forms of violence.
