Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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February 10, 2026 Peace and security
Children in Sudan are facing the world's worst humanitarian disaster, United Nations officials warned on Tuesday. As fighting intensifies, access to life-saving aid continues to decline.
"Catastrophic" hunger figures
"No child on the planet is currently experiencing what the children of Sudan are experiencing," said Ricardo Pires of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). He noted that the situation in Northern Darfur is rapidly deteriorating: in some areas, more than half of all children suffer from acute malnutrition.
According to new data, three districts have reached catastrophic levels. In Um Barru, the global acute malnutrition rate has reached 53 percent—one of the highest levels ever recorded globally. In Kernoi, the rate is 34 percent, and in At Tina, 20 percent.
After the fall of El Fasher in October 2025, more than 127,000 people fled to areas already in crisis. Fighting has now broken out there again, and children find themselves at the epicenter of what humanitarian workers are calling "a possible final battle for Darfur."
Two-thirds of the population need help
Across the country, 33.7 million people require humanitarian assistance – approximately two-thirds of the population, half of them children. This year, 825,000 children are projected to suffer from severe malnutrition. Seventy percent of healthcare facilities are non-functional.
At the end of January, UNICEF screened 85,000 children in the three hardest-hit districts and identified over 5,400 cases of severe acute malnutrition. The organization is supporting 25 therapeutic feeding programs, deploying mobile clinics, and delivering supplies across the border from Chad. However, funding shortages, access issues, and ongoing fighting are seriously complicating its work.
The healthcare system is destroyed
The country's healthcare system has been devastated by nearly three years of war, noted Dr. Shible Sahbani, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Sudan. More than 21 million people require medical care.
Since the beginning of the conflict, the WHO has confirmed 205 attacks on health facilities, resulting in 1,924 deaths and 529 injuries. More than a third of health facilities are completely non-functional, and another third are only partially operational.
Cholera vaccination
Despite this, WHO vaccinated over 12 million people against cholera and expanded its malaria vaccination program to protect nearly 220,000 children. With WHO support, hospitals, primary care centers, and mobile clinics provided medical care to up to six million people.
Representatives of both organizations emphasized Sudan's urgent need for peace. "Time is running out to prevent significant human losses," Pires said. "The violence must end, and the world must not turn its back on the children of Sudan."
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