Child hunger deepens
- Aid agencies warn child hunger in Sudan is deepening as food supplies and humanitarian funding shrink. (thedailystar.net) - The approaching rainy season could cut off aid routes and put millions of children at higher risk. (worldvision.org) - Declining funding and access constraints mean lifesaving assistance may not reach vulnerable children before rains begin. (thedailystar.net)
Sudan is entering the 2026 rainy season with millions of children at higher risk of hunger as aid agencies run short of food, money and road access. (wfp.org) UNICEF says 17.3 million children in Sudan need life-saving support this year, and 21 million people across the country face acute food insecurity. Its 2026 appeal seeks $962.9 million to reach 7.9 million children and other vulnerable people. (unicef.org) The World Food Programme says 19 million people are facing acute hunger, including families in Darfur and Kordofan where conflict and blocked access have driven a sharp rise in malnutrition. WFP says 4.2 million young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls are expected to need treatment. (wfp.org) The danger is rising now because Sudan’s four-month rainy season begins in June, when key aid routes into Darfur from Chad can turn into flooded wadis and deep mud. World Vision said children in Darfur will become “nearly unreachable” if supplies are not prepositioned before the rains. (worldvision.org) UNICEF warned in April 2025 that about 60 percent of Sudan’s annual admissions for severe acute malnutrition occurred during the rainy season in 2022, 2023 and 2024. If that pattern holds again, up to 462,000 children could be affected during this year’s rains. (news.un.org) Sudan’s war began in April 2023, when the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces started fighting for power. More than 12 million people have fled violence, according to World Vision, while UNICEF says 9.5 million people were internally displaced as of September 30, 2025. (worldvision.org) (unicef.org) Food monitors say the crisis is no longer limited to scattered pockets. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said famine conditions were identified in El Fasher and Kadugli, with 20 more areas across Darfur and Kordofan at risk through May 2026. (ipcinfo.org) Aid agencies say they have prevented worse outcomes in some places, but only where fighting eased and convoys got through. WFP says regular assistance helped reverse famine conditions in nine locations, and it is now reaching about 4 million people a month, including 2 million in Darfur. (wfp.org) That progress is fragile because funding has tightened. In January, WFP warned it had cut rations to the minimum and could deplete food stocks in Sudan by the end of March without new money; its current emergency page says it needs $610 million for operations from March through August 2026. (news.un.org) (wfp.org) The next test is whether agencies can move food and nutrition supplies before June closes the roads. WFP and UNICEF both say safe, sustained humanitarian access — not just more funding — will decide whether children in Darfur and Kordofan can be reached in time. (wfp.org) (unicef.org)
