Geneva — Sudan is now among countries worldwide with the highest prevalence of global acute malnutrition, a trend also evident among new arrivals in neighbouring countries, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday.
"Notably, our teams observe that newly arrived children in places like Chad and Uganda arrive with above acceptable levels of malnutrition," UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said at a UN press conference.
He noted that, for instance, recent assessments in Chad reveal extremely worrying rates of malnutrition above emergency thresholds among new arrivals in the Tine area, and emphasized that funding cuts exacerbate the crisis.
"Among children aged 6-59 months, 11.2 percent are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and 30.5 percent are affected by moderate acute malnutrition, while 10.5 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women are affected by moderate acute malnutrition," said Baloch.
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The UN Refugee Agency spokesperson said that critical malnutrition levels are also observed at some of the main settlement and transit centres hosting Sudanese refugees.
These include the Central African Republic, Uganda's Kiryandongo settlement, where nearly a third of children screened in are malnourished, and South Sudan's Renk transit centre, where malnutrition rates among children under five have exceeded the 15 percent emergency threshold.
"This is not just a nutrition crisis – it also bears grave protection concerns for millions of people who have fled Sudan, now the world's largest and worst protection crisis," said Baloch.
"If people remain unable to meet their nutrition and dietary needs, there is a real risk that they will be forced to adopt negative coping mechanisms to survive."
The UN official said that the world is likely to see an increased risk of early marriage, school dropouts, and child exploitation.
There is also a serious concern about the increasing prevalence of opportunistic diseases, particularly in areas where medical facilities, supplies, and personnel are scarce.
Increased tensions
Baloch said that social relations between refugees and their hosts also risk being significantly strained, increasing tensions and leading to potential conflict.
Since mid-April 2023, conflict has engulfed the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces group, known as RSF, which has resulted in more than 20,000 deaths and displaced nearly 13 million people, according to the UN.
The army is led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the ruling Sovereign Council, also known as SAF, and the RSF, led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The publication Science (science.org) reports that estimates of how many people have died from fighting and related causes in the Sudan conflict have varied from 20,000 to 150,000.
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The UNHCR warned that ongoing funding cuts are also exacerbating the situation, with reduced food rations, decreased malnutrition screening and nutrition support, and limited medical follow-ups due to a shortage of community health workers.
"The impact of these cuts also means the loss of key nutrition experts and staff. UNHCR and partners have been forced to deprioritize nutrition surveys, including in countries where Sudanese refugees are hosted, due to a lack of funding as well as staff, given the extensive job cuts," said Baloch.
"Without additional and urgent financial support, the food and nutrition crisis is expected to deteriorate quickly."
The UN official stated that, beyond food and nutrition support, critical funding shortfalls continue to hinder the UNHCR's response efforts, and the 2025 Regional Refugee Response Plan has only received 15 percent of the required funds to support Sudanese refugees.
