UNICEF SOUNDS FAMINE ALARM IN SUDAN

Sat 12 July 2025:

UNICEF reported a 46 per cent increase in the number of children treated for severe acute malnutrition across Sudan’s five Darfur states between January and May 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.

In North Darfur, more than 40,000 children were treated in the first five months of the year, double the number from last year.

The rise comes as surveys show emergency levels of acute malnutrition in most parts of Darfur. In East Darfur’s Yasin locality, the rate of global acute malnutrition reached 28 per cent in May, just below the 30 per cent threshold used to declare famine.

“Children in Darfur are being starved by conflict and cut off from the very aid that could save them,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Representative for Sudan.

Fighting in North Darfur has made it nearly impossible to deliver food or medical supplies. Supplies of therapeutic food in Al Fasher have run out. Health facilities have closed. Cholera and other diseases are spreading in overcrowded displacement areas.

“Even before the lean season fully takes hold, these numbers are dangerously high and will likely worsen without swift humanitarian action,” Yett said.

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Mass Displacement and Collapsing Conditions

Nearly 400,000 people fled Zamzam in April. Many walked for days to reach Tawila, where over 500,000 people now live in overcrowded conditions with little food, water or shelter.

UNICEF and its partners are trying to meet the needs, providing treatment, drilling wells, and distributing food. Still, access is limited, and the situation is deteriorating.

“This is a moment of truth; children’s lives depend on whether the world chooses to act or look away,” said Yett.

UNICEF is calling for full humanitarian access, more funding, and pressure on all parties to stop the fighting so aid can reach children in need.

written by Thaabit Kamaar

This article originally published in Salaamedia click here