UNICEF warned Tuesday that children in Sudan are "running out of time" as hunger deepens and the humanitarian catastrophe worsens, urging an immediate end to the violence in the war-ravaged country.
Children in Sudan are "at the epicenter of the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe, and it's getting worse by the day," the UN agency spokesperson Ricardo Pires told reporters in Geneva, saying that conditions in parts of conflict-torn North Darfur are rapidly deteriorating.
Pires said "more than half of all children" in parts of North Darfur are acutely malnourished, stressing that the figures are "not projected but confirmed."
Citing new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data, he said global acute malnutrition stands at 53% in Um Baru, calling this "one of the highest (levels) ever recorded." Levels are 34% in Kernoi and 20% in At Tina, and famine thresholds for malnutrition have been surpassed in Um Baru and Kernoi, he said.
"These are children between 6 months and 5 years old, and they are running out of time," the spokesperson stressed.
He added that since the fall of El Fasher last October, more than 127,000 people have fled into already desperate areas. Fresh fighting has forced humanitarian partners to pause operations, limiting access to treatment. According to Pires, only 23% of severely malnourished children in Um Baru and 14% in Kernoi were receiving care at the time of screening.
Across Sudan, he said 33.7 million people need humanitarian assistance, half of them children. Some 825,000 children are projected to suffer severe wasting this year, while 70% of health facilities are non-functional.
"The violence must stop. Humanitarian access must be granted, and the world must stop looking away from Sudan's children," he said.
The conflict between Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands and displaced millions.
Shible Sahbani, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Sudan, told reporters that the country's health care system has been "ravaged by attacks," citing the loss and damage of equipment and supplies, shortages of health workers, and a lack of operational funds.
Sahbani said WHO has verified 205 attacks on health care since the start of the war, resulting in 1,924 deaths and 529 injuries, and warned that each year such incidents are becoming increasingly deadly.
According to the figures he provided, 64 attacks in 2023 resulted in 38 deaths, while 72 attacks in 2024 caused 200 deaths. In 2025, 65 attacks resulted in 1,620 deaths, accounting for 82% of reported deaths from attacks on health care globally. In the first 40 days of 2026 alone, he said, four attacks caused 66 deaths.
Sahbani said such attacks deprive communities of care for years, instill fear among patients and health care workers, and create barriers to life-saving treatment.
Sudan is also facing multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, dengue, and measles, alongside malnutrition and other life-threatening conditions.
"We call for the protection of health care in line with international humanitarian law," Sahbani said. "Patients, health workers, healthcare facilities and health assets must be protected from attacks. Patients and health care workers should not risk death while seeking and providing care."
