22 INGOs raise concerns about deepening starvation in Sudan
5 February 2026The IPC has warned of famine-level acute malnutrition in two additional areas of North Darfur.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Partnership (IPC) alerts today of famine-level acute malnutrition detected in two more localities in North Darfur, Um Baru and Kernoi. Just three months ago, the IPC warned that famine was ongoing in Darfur and Kordofan states, with a high risk that these conditions would further spread.
The newly identified levels of acute malnutrition represent extreme, life-threatening deprivation, and famine may soon be confirmed by the IPC in these additional areas. For small children, the danger is especially acute: malnutrition gravely weakens their immunity, leaving them far more vulnerable to disease at a time when healthcare and other services have been severely disrupted, if not collapsed entirely.
We know from global experience that famine confirmations often come too late. Thousands may have already died, and many surviving children are likely to face lifelong damage.
This new alert confirms what communities and responders have been fearing for months. Starvation is rising and becoming entrenched in areas humanitarian actors are prevented from accessing. Even in places where we can operate, resources are drastically insufficient to meet overwhelming needs and halt the spread of hunger.
Plan International along with 21 international humanitarian organisations warn that other areas are likely to be facing similar catastrophic conditions. Yet escalating conflict and severe access restrictions prevent comprehensive assessments and timely response. For nearly three years, armed actors in Sudan have conducted deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure essential for survival. Sudan is also the site of a relentless war on women and girls, who continue to face systemic conflict-related sexual violence.
This violence has displaced millions from their homes and livelihoods, devastated people’s ability to produce and distribute food, and routinely blocked their access to water, healthcare and protection services.
Restricted humanitarian access, continued funding shortfalls and insufficient political will are converging into a catastrophe that should never have been allowed to unfold. Without immediate and unhindered access for humanitarian operations, alongside a rapid increase in resources, including to local actors, the spread of starvation will not cease.
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