Sudan’s war is starving its children. Severe malnutrition cases jumped 46% across Darfur in the first five months of 2025, and North Darfur alone saw over 40,000 children treated for the worst kind of hunger—double last year’s numbers, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported. Nine out of 13 areas in Darfur have hit emergency hunger levels. Some places are getting close to famine.
“Children in Darfur are being starved by conflict and cut off from the very aid that could save them,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s top official in Sudan. This is happening during Sudan’s lean season, when food runs short between harvests.
Getting help to kids has become nearly impossible. Since April, fighting around Al Fasher and Zamzam camp has trapped whole neighborhoods. Hospitals get bombed. Roads are blocked. Aid trucks get attacked and looted. UNICEF got some supplies to Al Fasher earlier this year but can’t send more because of the violence. The special food that saves severely malnourished children has run out, and health clinics have closed.
The hunger crisis is spreading beyond Darfur. Severe malnutrition cases shot up 70% in North Kordofan, 174% in Khartoum State, and 683% in Al Jazirah State. Some of these increases happen because better security lets mothers reach health centers. But the big picture shows a country where children are dying from hunger while war tears everything apart.
The human cost is brutal. In April, nearly 400,000 people fled Zamzam camp. Many walked up to 70 kilometers to reach Tawila. Now over 500,000 displaced people crowd into public buildings or sleep outside with almost no food, water, or shelter. Cholera outbreaks and measles cases make everything worse.
UNICEF and other groups are treating sick kids, drilling wells, and handing out food. But the fighting creates new problems faster than they can fix them. Severe acute malnutrition kills children quickly without the right treatment. Sudan’s kids need help now, not promises.
