More than 3 million children under the age of five in Sudan are at risk of acute malnutrition in 2025, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.

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“Of that figure [3.2 million], around 772,000 children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition,” said UNICEF Sudan’s communication officer, Eva Hinds, in a statement to AFP.

“Without humanitarian access (…) malnutrition is likely to worsen in these areas,” she added.

According to UNICEF, acute malnutrition occurs when a child’s weight is significantly below the reference standard for their height. This form of malnutrition is severe and requires urgent medical attention.

Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group under the command of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Recent reports from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) indicate that famine is devastating populations in five regions of Sudan due to the ongoing conflict. The IPC predicts that by May, famine will spread to five additional districts in the western region of Darfur.

At the end of December last year, UNICEF reported that child malnutrition in conflict zones had reached alarming levels. Armed violence has disrupted food systems, displaced populations, and hindered humanitarian aid access.

“Sudan has declared its first famine since 2017, specifically in North Darfur. Additionally, it is estimated that in 2024, more than half a million people in five conflict-affected countries faced (…) the most extreme level on the food insecurity scale,” stated the UN agency.

The humanitarian and geopolitical impact of the conflict in Sudan remains “catastrophically high,” as highlighted in various international reports.

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