On Friday, UNICEF revealed that 3.2 million children under the age of five are expected to suffer from severe malnutrition across Sudan this year.
Eva Hands, Head of Advocacy and Communications at UNICEF Sudan, told Sudan Tribune in an exclusive statement that the projections indicate 3.2 million children under five will face severe malnutrition nationwide in 2025.
She emphasized that 770,000 children are at risk of the most critical form, severe acute malnutrition, particularly in famine-stricken and hard-to-reach areas such as the Zamzam, Abu Shouk, and Salam camps in North Darfur, as well as the Nuba Mountains and other regions vulnerable to famine.
Hands added that over 1.3 million children are at risk, with an estimated 683,000 expected to suffer from severe malnutrition. She described the figures as a “catastrophic reality” and warned that each day of delay in delivering aid costs lives.
From January to August, UNICEF reached 3.8 million children through nutrition screenings and provided life-saving treatment to more than 374,000 severely malnourished children. The agency also delivered millions of oral cholera vaccine doses to protect children from deadly disease outbreaks.
Hands noted that insecurity, damaged infrastructure, and bureaucratic obstacles continue to severely limit UNICEF’s ability to reach children at the required scale. She stressed that urgent, safe, and sustainable humanitarian access is needed to deliver aid swiftly and continuously to children and families in critical need.
