August 6, 2025 — Geneva / Port Sudan: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has issued a grave warning that funding cuts are pushing an entire generation of Sudanese children toward irreversible harm, as malnutrition and lack of access to basic services escalate across the war-torn country.
The ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced millions, fractured the nation into contested zones, and severely hampered humanitarian access. Amid this crisis, international funding has dwindled, forcing UN agencies and aid organizations to drastically scale back life-saving operations.
“Children across Sudan are facing a deadly combination of hunger, disease, and displacement. Many are reduced to just skin and bones,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF’s Representative in Sudan, speaking via video link from Port Sudan. “We are on the verge of irreversible damage being done to an entire generation.”
Crippling Funding Gaps
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that only 23% of the $4.16 billion humanitarian response plan for Sudan has been funded—a shortfall that is already having catastrophic consequences on the ground.
“The scale of need is staggering, but with recent funding cuts, many of our partners have been forced to pull back from critical operations in Khartoum and beyond,” Yett added. “Children are dying of hunger. We are being stretched to the absolute limit.”
The funding crisis has been exacerbated by decisions from key donor states, including the United States, to slash foreign aid allocations, plunging agencies like UNICEF, UNHCR, and the World Food Programme into one of the worst funding droughts in decades.
Famine Threat Looms in Conflict Zones
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), regions south of Khartoum are teetering on the brink of famine, while other conflict-ridden areas like Al-Fashir remain under siege. Roads to many locations have become impassable due to heavy rains, further complicating the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“It has been one year since famine was confirmed in ZamZam camp, yet no food assistance has reached the area. Al-Fashir continues to be besieged,” said Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson. “We need unimpeded access now.”
The RSF’s stronghold in western Sudan, where needs are most acute, remains largely cut off from international assistance due to security concerns and logistical barriers.
A Call for Immediate Global Action
UNICEF has called on the international community to act with urgency, stressing that delays in funding and access will cost lives. “We’re not just facing a humanitarian crisis,” said Yett. “We’re facing a collapse of childhood for millions in Sudan.”
With needs far outpacing the resources available, humanitarian agencies warn that without immediate and substantial support, Sudan risks witnessing one of the gravest child survival crises in recent memory.
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