UN Says Time Running out for Sudan’s Malnourished Children
Last update: February 10, 2026
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UN urges urgent action as famine and disease tighten grip on children in Darfur.
The United Nations warned on Tuesday that time is running out for malnourished children in Sudan, urging the international community to stop looking away as famine spreads and aid access shrinks.
UN backed experts said last week that famine is expanding across western Darfur, driven by the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has left millions hungry, displaced and cut off from assistance.
Global food security specialists say famine thresholds for acute malnutrition have already been exceeded in the contested North Darfur areas of Um Baru and Kernoi.
Ricardo Pires, a spokesperson for UNICEF, said conditions for children are deteriorating rapidly. In parts of North Darfur, more than half of all children are now acutely malnourished, he told reporters in Geneva, warning that they are running out of time.
He said extreme hunger is hitting the youngest and most vulnerable first, with fever, diarrhoea, respiratory infections, low vaccination coverage, unsafe water and a collapsing health system turning treatable illnesses into deadly threats for malnourished children.
Humanitarian access is shrinking, funding remains critically short and fighting is intensifying, Pires said, calling for immediate access for aid agencies and greater global attention to Sudan’s children.
CBI News reports that the conflict, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands, displaced about 11 million people and created what the UN describes as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
World Health Organization representative Shible Sahbani said Sudan is also facing multiple disease outbreaks, including cholera, malaria, dengue and measles, alongside widespread malnutrition. He warned that health workers and medical facilities are increasingly under attack.
Since the war began, the WHO has verified 205 attacks on healthcare, resulting in 1,924 deaths.
The violence has grown deadlier over time, with 65 attacks causing 1,620 deaths in 2025 alone, and four attacks in the first 40 days of this year killing 66 people.
Fighting has also intensified in Sudan’s southern Kordofan region.
