UNICEF reports on unprecedented acute malnutrition among children in North Darfur as UN takes a first visit to El Fasher : Shared by Tom McDermott
Nutrition Survey Finds Unprecedented Level of Child Malnutrition in Sudan's North Darfur / UN
Describes El-Fasher as "Crime Scene" After First Access
Author: UNICEF Press Release / Faisal Ali and News Agencies
Publication: UNICEF / Al Jazeera
Date: December 29-30, 2025
Click here for the UNICEF article / Click here for the Al Jazeera article
Summary
A UN team gained access to el-Fasher on December 27 for the first time since the RSF takeover on October 26, describing the largely deserted city as a "crime scene." UN staff found very few people remaining, with those who stayed sheltering in empty buildings or under plastic sheets. More than 100,000 residents fled after the RSF seized control following an 18-month siege, with survivors reporting ethnically motivated mass killings and widespread detentions.
A UNICEF nutrition survey conducted between December 19-23 in Um Baru locality, North Darfur, found that 53 percent of nearly 500 children screened were acutely malnourished, with 18 percent suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 35 percent from Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), among the highest malnutrition rates recorded anywhere in the world and more than three times the WHO emergency threshold of 15 percent. One in six children is suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that can kill within weeks if untreated.
Many residents are recently internally displaced families who fled the escalation of fighting in Al Fasher in late October, and many children have not been immunized against measles or other vaccine-preventable diseases. The crude mortality rate has reached emergency levels.
North Darfur remains at the epicenter of Sudan's malnutrition crisis, with nearly 85,000 severely malnourished children admitted for treatment in the state by November 2025 alone. One in three children had been ill in the two weeks before the survey, mainly with fever, cough or diarrhea, pointing to severely constrained access to health services, with measles vaccination coverage at only 24 percent and Vitamin A coverage at 11 percent.
More on the attacks
A UN team gained access to el-Fasher on December 27 for the first time since the RSF takeover on October 26, describing the largely deserted city as a "crime scene." UN staff found very few people remaining, with those who stayed sheltering in empty buildings or under plastic sheets. More than 100,000 residents fled after the RSF seized control following an 18-month siege, with survivors reporting ethnically motivated mass killings and widespread detentions.
A UNICEF nutrition survey conducted between December 19-23 in Um Baru locality, North Darfur, found that 53 percent of nearly 500 children screened were acutely malnourished, with 18 percent suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 35 percent from Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), among the highest malnutrition rates recorded anywhere in the world and more than three times the WHO emergency threshold of 15 percent. One in six children is suffering from severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition that can kill within weeks if untreated.
Many residents are recently internally displaced families who fled the escalation of fighting in Al Fasher in late October, and many children have not been immunized against measles or other vaccine-preventable diseases. The crude mortality rate has reached emergency levels.
North Darfur remains at the epicenter of Sudan's malnutrition crisis, with nearly 85,000 severely malnourished children admitted for treatment in the state by November 2025 alone. One in three children had been ill in the two weeks before the survey, mainly with fever, cough or diarrhea, pointing to severely constrained access to health services, with measles vaccination coverage at only 24 percent and Vitamin A coverage at 11 percent.
More on the attacks
A Yale University report documented the RSF's systematic campaign to erase evidence of mass killings, with satellite imagery showing that by late November, 72 percent of clusters containing objects consistent with human remains had become smaller, while 38 percent were no longer visible.
The Sudan Doctors Network reported that attacks by the RSF beginning December 24 in the Ambro, Serba and Abu Qumra areas in the Dar Zaghawa region near the Chad border could close the last escape route for civilians fleeing to Chad and trigger the largest refugee exodus these areas have witnessed.
An estimated 107,000 people have been displaced from el-Fasher and surrounding areas since late October, with 72 percent remaining within North Darfur state. The Sudan war has killed more than 100,000 people and displaced 14 million since April 2023. The escalating insecurity has severely restricted humanitarian access and delayed life-saving assistance throughout the region.
Quotes
"When severe acute malnutrition reaches this level, time becomes the most critical factor. Children in Um Baru are fighting for their lives and need immediate help. Every day without safe and unhindered access increases the risk of children growing weaker and more death and suffering from causes that are entirely preventable." - UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell
"We have photos of people, and you can see clearly on their faces the accumulation of fatigue, of stress, of anxiety, of loss." - Denise Brown, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan
"UNICEF calls upon 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. Without a predictable and respected humanitarian pause in fighting, aid workers cannot safely deliver food, clean water, medical care, or protection services, and children continue to pay the highest price."
"The continuation of violations in those areas will drive thousands of civilians towards Chad in the largest refugee exodus these areas have witnessed." - Sudan Doctors Network statement
"When severe acute malnutrition reaches this level, time becomes the most critical factor. Children in Um Baru are fighting for their lives and need immediate help. Every day without safe and unhindered access increases the risk of children growing weaker and more death and suffering from causes that are entirely preventable." - UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell
"We have photos of people, and you can see clearly on their faces the accumulation of fatigue, of stress, of anxiety, of loss." - Denise Brown, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Sudan
"UNICEF calls upon 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. Without a predictable and respected humanitarian pause in fighting, aid workers cannot safely deliver food, clean water, medical care, or protection services, and children continue to pay the highest price."
"The continuation of violations in those areas will drive thousands of civilians towards Chad in the largest refugee exodus these areas have witnessed." - Sudan Doctors Network statement
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