An estimated 3.2 million children under the age of five are expected to face acute malnutrition this year in war-torn Sudan, according to the United Nations Children鈥檚 Fund.
鈥極f this number, around 7,72,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition,鈥� Eva Hinds, UNICEF Sudan鈥檚 Head of Advocacy and Communication, said late on Thursday.
Famine has already gripped five areas across Sudan, according to a report last month by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a UN-backed assessment.
Sudan has endured 20 months of war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, killing tens of thousands and, according to the United Nations, uprooting 12 million in the world鈥檚 largest displacement crisis.
Confirming to AFP that 3.2 million children are currently expected to face acute malnutrition, Hinds said 鈥榯he number of severely malnourished children increased from an estimated 7,30,000 in 2024 to over 7,70,000 in 2025.鈥�
The IPC expects famine to expand to five more parts of Sudan鈥檚 western Darfur region by May 鈥� a vast area that has seen some of the conflict鈥檚 worst violence. A further 17 areas in western and central Sudan are also at risk of famine, it said.
鈥榃ithout immediate, unhindered humanitarian access facilitating a significant scale-up of a multisectoral response, malnutrition is likely to increase in these areas,鈥� Hinds warned.
Sudan鈥檚 army-aligned government strongly rejected the IPC findings, while aid agencies complain that access is blocked by bureaucratic hurdles and ongoing violence.
In October, experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council accused both sides of using 鈥榮tarvation tactics鈥�.
On Tuesday the United States determined that the RSF had 鈥榗ommitted genocide鈥� and imposed sanctions on the paramilitary group鈥檚 leader.
Across the country, more than 24.6 million people 鈥� around half the population 鈥� face 鈥榟igh levels of acute food insecurity,鈥� according to IPC, which said: 鈥極nly a ceasefire can reduce the risk of famine spreading further鈥�.
As Darfur faces the threat of famine, the Doctors Without Borders charity chief has called for the war-ravaged Sudanese region to be flooded with food.
Sudan has been torn apart and pushed towards famine by the war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Famine has already been declared in parts of Darfur, including at Zamzam camp for displaced people near the North Darfur capital El-Fasher, which has seen some of the war鈥檚 fiercest fighting.
Despite the rampant violence and insecurity in Darfur, MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockyear, who recently visited the region, told AFP it was possible to scale up desperately-needed aid.