The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned that children in Sudan are facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with conditions rapidly deteriorating amid ongoing violence, mass displacement and systemic collapse of basic services.

According to UNICEF, approximately 33.7 million people across Sudan require humanitarian assistance, half of whom are children. Malnutrition has reached catastrophic levels in several regions, particularly in North Darfur, where recent data from the UN-backed IPC food security monitor shows over half of all children in areas such as Um Baru and Kernoi are acutely malnourished. It is projected that 825,000 children will suffer from severe wasting this year.

"Extreme hunger and malnutrition come for children first, the youngest, the smallest, the most vulnerable," said UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires. "In Sudan, it's spreading... These are children between six months and five years old, and they are running out of time."

The health system has been crippled by the ongoing conflict, with 70 percent of medical facilities non-functional. The World Health Organization (WHO) verified 205 attacks on healthcare facilities since the war began in April 2023, resulting in 1,924 deaths and 529 injuries. Such attacks, combined with shortages of staff and supplies, have left nearly two-thirds of Sudan's population, about 21 million people, in need of health assistance.

Dr Shible Sahbani, the WHO representative in Sudan, emphasized that disease outbreaks including cholera, malaria, dengue and measles are surging in overcrowded displacement sites. 

The crisis has been exacerbated by blocked humanitarian access, especially in conflict hotspots such as Jonglei State in neighboring South Sudan, where recent fighting has hampered aid delivery and increased the risk of cholera transmission. UN officials have repeatedly called for all parties to uphold international humanitarian law, ensure safe access for aid workers and cease hostilities.

Pires called on the world to "stop looking away" from Sudan's children, warning that more than half of the youngsters in North Darfur's Um Baru are "wasting away while we watch." "That is not a statistic. Those are children with names and a future that are being stolen," the UNICEF spokesperson added.

(With input from agencies)

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