WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warned Saturday that Sudan faces a catastrophic hunger crisis, with famine confirmed in multiple regions. He stated that over 770,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year amid collapsing food systems. The UN agency is supporting 142 centres that have treated more than 20,000 severely malnourished children across Sudan in 2025.
Simultaneously, a severe cholera outbreak has engulfed all 18 states, claiming over 2,600 lives and infecting more than 105,000 people. North Darfur suffers most, where the city of El-Fasher remains under siege for more than 500 days, Tedros said urgently.
He called for immediate, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to El-Fasher to meet escalating health needs and save lives. The warnings come as fighting between General Abdel Fattah al Burhan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces devastates civilian areas, especially El-Fasher.
Since mid-April 2023, the conflict has killed over 20,000 people and displaced 14 million, UN figures show. Research from US universities, however, estimates the true death toll may reach approximately 130,000, far higher than official counts.
The UN’s humanitarian office has described Sudan as facing “the world’s largest hunger crisis,” with aid deliveries constrained by insecurity. Tedros’ warning highlights the intertwining of war, hunger, and disease, painting a grim portrait of a country in urgent peril.
