Child malnutrition has reached alarming levels in South Sudan with some 2.3 million children under five facing life-threatening acute malnutrition, according to a press release from Save the Children. The crisis has worsened after recent cuts to international aid funding. Lasting civil war, effects of climate change, and poverty have pushed the world’s youngest nation deeper into humanitarian catastrophe, says the international non-governmental organization.
The situation has gotten worse over the past six months, since January 2025. South Sudan depends heavily on foreign aid, making recent funding cuts particularly damaging for vulnerable populations.
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New data from the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) – the global authority on food-security data and research – shows the number of people in the worst phase of acute hunger has doubled in South Sudan: jumping from 41,000 to 83,000 since late 2024. The percentage of South Sudanese living in crisis-level hunger rose 22.6%, climbing from 6.3 million to 7.69 million people during the current lean season. Out of 80 counties surveyed by the IPC, 62 reported worsening malnutrition rates. An additional 218,000 children are now malnourished.
“When there is a lack of food, children’s bodies become a battleground,” said Chris Nyamandi, Save the Children’s Country Director in South Sudan.
The crisis shows the direct impact of reduced international funding on life-saving programs across South Sudan. Health facilities in the country lack medical supplies, facing spreading major disease outbreaks, including cholera.
The Republic of South Sudan, an African nation that gained sovereignty from Sudan on July 9, 2011, is the world’s newest formally acknowledged nation. Today, the nation faces high poverty levels and, according to UNICEF, has experienced numerous severe droughts which have caused a large number of fatalities, and livestock losses.
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