Voices: I’ve seen what aid can do. The world is making a grave mistake with cuts – and children are paying the price

During his 2016 visit to South Sudan, Unicef UK ambassador Tom Hiddleston met brothers Buom, 12 (right) and Jal, 9 (left) who had been separated from their mother due to conflict - (Unicef/Siegfried Mod)

Ten years ago, I watched a family, torn apart by war, be reunited. I keep asking myself whether, in 2026, that would still be possible.

In November 2016, on my second trip to South Sudan, I met Nyalim*. She was twelve years old. She had been making a routine hospital visit with her mother and aunt when gunfire broke out. In the chaos, she ran in one direction, her mother and aunt in another.