This year, 3.5 million children in Sudan are projected to be acutely malnourished, including 700,000 who are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and require life-saving treatment, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned in a press-release.
The agency added that it is seeing a record number of referrals for treatment of the deadliest form of malnutrition in the North African country.
"UNICEF is seeing record levels of admissions for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition – the deadliest form of malnutrition – in the areas that can be reached with humanitarian assistance. Conditions in areas unreachable because of the fighting – where children are in most urgent need – are undoubtedly worse," the UNICEF said.
Furthermore, some 3 million children have been internally displaced since clashes began, in addition to the 2 million displaced in previous crises - the largest number of internally displaced children in the world, the organization pointed out.
A total of 14 million children in Sudan - half of the country's children are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 19 million school-age children are at risk of missing out on education, the agency warned.
Regarding the humanitarian situation in the country, UNICEF revealed that health workers have not been paid their salaries for months, the number of cholera cases has more than doubled in the last month, and the highest levels of hunger ever recorded during the October-February harvest period, following the recent spread of instability to Al Jezira state, the country's breadbasket.
According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the ongoing fighting in the country since April could lead to disease outbreaks and a fatal collapse of the health system.
In October 2023, the warring parties resumed negotiations, mediated by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah, but hostilities in the country are ongoing. In January, the UN announced that the conflict had killed at least 13,000 people and injured 26,000 others.