Fatima Adem Al Bakker, 16, at home in Sakaly internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, Nyala, southern Darfur. Fatima’s mother Adila, 45, says they fled east Darfur when her husband, Mohammed, was killed by the Janjaweed. ‘They killed so many people,’ said Adila, ‘bodies of men, women and children were scattered everywhere. We left with nothing.’ Since 2004, Qatar Charity’s ‘Rofaqaa’ sponsorship scheme has been providing shelter, food and education for orphaned or fatherless children of the Darfur conflict

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), formed in 2013, have their origins in the Janjaweed militia group or ‘devils on horseback’, which disbanded following the Darfur Peace Agreement of 2011

Suleiman Ibrahim Suleiman, 18. Suleiman’s father Ibrahim, 40, worked as a driver when he was murdered in Central Darfur. His death in 2005 left the family facing enormous challenges. Suleiman was helped by the Rofaqaa scheme, which gives the family enough to live on and pays for Suleiman’s epilepsy medication

Soheiba Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah, 14, was just a baby when her father, Ahmed, was murdered by the Janjaweed in 2006. Soheiba’s mother, Maryam, 37, took the children and fled. Today, they are in the relative safety of Mosai IDP camp in Nyala, South Darfur

Nibras Abdullah, 16. Her mother Malak, 44, lost her husband 10 years ago. The emotional and financial burden ‘became all too much to bear’ explained the mother of four. Funds donated by the Rofaqaa orphan scheme mean her two daughters, Namarak, 15, and Nibras, can have an education

Ibrahim Aduma, 20, lives in Drage, home to more than 5,000 displaced people. His mother Hanan, 49, says: ‘My husband was killed by the Janjaweed. They arrived in cars and pick-ups with guns mounted in the rear. Women and even small children were killed that day as well as many fathers.’ The family survives through the Rofaqaa scheme, which continued to support Ibrahim after the age of 18, so he can study engineering

Umsalama Khalil Mohammed Adem, 16, arrived as a baby with her brother Ali, 32, at Mosai camp in Nyala in 2004, forced from home by the rebel attacks. Ali recalls the day they lost their father: ‘He was protecting my mother and his children. I was in the house, we were all terrified. After we buried my father we left the village. Life has been incredibly hard but thanks to the work of aid agencies we are the lucky ones’

Ikram Asrak, 15, lives amid a labyrinth of mud-and-straw huts at Mosai camp in Nyala with her mother Hanan and sister Hadia. Their father Eesa was killed defending the family home from Janjaweed rebels. ‘Villagers that day fled and left behind everything they had,’ said Hadia. ‘Everyone had to start their lives again in different towns and villages. We were displaced three times before arriving in Nyala’

Rahamat Abdul Rahman, 18, left Ghabsha village in east Darfur in 2004 aged two. Her mother Khadija, 63, says Janjaweed militia came and massacred the villagers. ‘Five members of our family, my husband included, were murdered that day. People were either gunned down where they stood, or locked in their homes and burned to death’

The family of Rahman Ali Mohammed, 16, fled Kebkabiya in north Darfur to a settlement on the outskirts of Nyala. Rahman, his mother Khadija and his two siblings arrived with only the clothes they wore. ‘When the rebels came we were asleep in our beds. The screams, the gunfire and the glow from the fires woke us all. We knew it was an attack,’ says Khadija, 35. Rahman’s father Ahmed was shot dead

After the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) signed a peace agreement in 2006, Mohamed, 39, left his post as SLA field commander. He is enrolled on a disarmament and reintegration programme. The government-led scheme aims to reintegrate ex-combatants by providing them with skills to improve their livelihood opportunities

Nasser Adin Mohammed Al Bakr, 48, joined the Sudan Liberation Army in 2002, later defecting to the ‘freewill movement’, a breakaway group. Nasser said: ‘I saw with my own eyes how Janjaweed attacked Sorra village in central Darfur, they massacred an entire village. Infants lay face down in the dirt next to their parents. I felt compelled to do something to help my country. It was a wasteful and shameful thing. Humanity had abandoned us at this point’

Islam Isam Abu Ghassi, 17, and her mother Hanan, 41, fled in 2006 after her father, a farmer, was killed by rebel soldiers. Militia spilled through their village, where they killed, raped, looted and burned. ‘I still cannot forget the images in my head of relatives and friends lying on the ground’

Khidar Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah, 18, was two when rebels arrived in his village. His father Ahmed was killed. Khidar has been on the Rofaqaa scheme for the past 12 years, but has temporarily dropped out of school. He said: ‘Growing up without a father has been really challenging. My mother is amazing and has done all she can for us, but now it is my responsibility to do more to help. I wish I could stay in school, but for now, I cannot’

Alnile informal settlement, on the outskirts of Nyala in southern Darfur, is home to many of the displaced people in the region