JAKARTA - More than half of children in Um Baru, North Darfur, Sudan, are suffering from acute malnutrition, including one in six children with severe acute malnutrition that is life-threatening and can be fatal in a few weeks without immediate treatment, UNICEF said earlier this week.
Around 500 children were examined during a nutrition survey conducted between December 19-23, according to UNICEF. The assessment found that 53 percent of children were acutely malnourished, including 18 percent with severe acute malnutrition and 35 percent with moderate acute malnutrition.
"Children in Um Baru are fighting for their lives and need immediate assistance. Every day without safe and unhindered access increases the risk of children becoming weaker and more deaths and suffering from completely preventable causes," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, as reported by Andolu (31/12).
Surveys show Um Baru is experiencing one of the highest rates of malnutrition ever recorded, surpassing the World Health Organization's emergency threshold of 15 percent.
"When severe acute malnutrition reaches this level, time becomes the most critical factor," Russell explained.
UNICEF said North Darfur remained the center of Sudan's malnutrition crisis, with nearly 85,000 severely malnourished children being treated in the state as of November 2025.
"UNICEF calls on all parties to allow immediate, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access to ensure life-saving assistance can reach children and their families trapped by the conflict," the agency said in a statement.
It is known that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan has escalated since fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out in April 2023, killing tens of thousands of people and causing around 13 million people to flee.
Of Sudan's 18 states, RSF controls five in the Darfur region except for parts of northern North Darfur, while the army controls most of the territory of the other 13 states, including the capital Khartoum.
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