4.2 million children, women in Sudan face acute malnutrition in 2026

KHARTOUM, (Xinhua) — The Global Nutrition Cluster warned on Monday that around 4.2 million children and pregnant or breastfeeding women in Sudan are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2026 amid ongoing conflict and the deterioration of basic services.

The report, issued by the UN-led coordination group, estimates that about 8.4 million people will need nutritional assistance in 2026, including 5 million children under the age of five and 3.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Meanwhile, about 824,000 children under five are projected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening form, which dramatically increases mortality risk without urgent interventions.

The Cluster is a coordination mechanism led by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to organize the response to food crises.

It added that among its recent surveys, 31 out of 61 reported a prevalence of global acute malnutrition at 15 percent or higher, exceeding the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold. The global acute malnutrition is a measurement of the nutritional status of a population that is often used in protracted refugee situations.

The report said that the situation is expected to deteriorate further in 2026 due to the expanding conflict, declining food security, and damaged health and water services.

In 2026, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) plans to mobilize nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars to help 13.8 million people in Sudan, including 7.9 million children.

The agency warned that 3.4 million children face life-threatening diseases, as about 70 percent of health facilities in conflict-affected states remain nonfunctional.

On Jan. 15, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) cautioned that without immediate funding, its food stocks in Sudan will be depleted by the end of March, leaving millions without aid.

A late 2025 UN report confirmed famine in the cities of El Fasher in North Darfur and Kadugli in South Kordofan.

The Sudanese government, however, has dismissed famine reports as “exaggerated.”

Sudan has been engulfed in a deadly conflict since April 15, 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced within the country and across its borders.