Sudan's Looming Catastrophe: UNICEF Warns of Unprecedented Child Malnutrition Crisis Amidst Civil War

UNICEF stated Friday that millions of Sudanese children are malnourished due to “the world's largest child displacement crisis,” the civil war.

The UN humanitarian aid organization reports 3 million displaced children since the war began 300 days ago.

About 3.5 million children will be acutely malnourished this year. UNICEF warned around 700,000 that it might be fatal.

Last April, street skirmishes between two generals' armies in Khartoum caused havoc across Sudan.

“Unless humanitarian assistance can be significantly scaled up, parts of Khartoum, Kordofan and Darfur will face an elevated risk of catastrophic hunger conditions by the next lean season, which could begin as early as March this year,” UNICEF said.

The group stressed that Darfur, where one-third of the displaced people lives and 200,000 children may have severe acute malnutrition, which increases their risk of disease, needs relief.

UNICEF said that sickness in overcrowded and unsanitary displacement sites has caused anecdotal reports of child fatalities in Sudan, where two-thirds of the population lacks health care.

Half of Sudan's 14 million children need humanitarian relief. According to the organization, thousands have been killed, injured, sexually abused, or recruited for war.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs requested $2.7 billion this week for urgent Sudan relief, according to a news release. UNICEF wants $840 million in 2024.

UNICEF reiterated calls for a cease-fire in Sudan.

Guterres told a U.N. news conference that adversaries should start talking about resolving the bloodshed, which has killed at least 12,000 people and displaced over 7 million.