In a joint update, the United Nations agencies warn that child malnutrition in Sudan will reach an all-time high in 2026. The report projects that 825,000 children under the age of five are at risk of death from severe acute malnutrition this year, with the mortality rate placed at 90%. Already, 19 million people in the country face acute food insecurity.
This crisis is worsening now because Sudan is entering its lean season (the period between harvests when food becomes scarce). During this period, families must stretch small amounts of leftover food until the next crops come in.
However, the ongoing three-year war has forced over 14 million people from their homes, disrupting local farming. Because agriculture accounts for about 80 percent of Sudan’s food and income, this mass displacement makes the soaring rates of child malnutrition in Sudan inevitable and almost unstoppable.
How Can You Help?
Usually, it’s difficult to understand how bad any situation is unless one lives it. But we must know that children are the most affected. Toddlers! 3-year-olds unable to walk properly because of hunger. 5-year-olds who can’t attend kindergarten because they are stuck in the war for food. The best we can do is to help. But how?
To survive acute malnutrition, children need basic items like therapeutic milk, medical supplies, and nutritional food packs. While the numbers in Sudan are high, child malnutrition remains a daily issue for families across the globe.
Hunger is the stress parents feel when they cannot fill a refrigerator (if they have one). It forces families to make hard choices, like deciding which child to feed more.
As individuals, we cannot stop a war in a foreign land or fix a broken global food system. We can, however, take direct action to protect the children from these survival cycles. By supporting food security programs, we ensure that vulnerable children near home do not suffer the same long-term damage caused by hunger.
Partner with Greater Works Charity
Greater Works Charity is a faith-driven nonprofit organization located in Chicago, Illinois. Our mission is to feed families, empower lives, restore purpose, and transform society. To date, we have provided over 300 local families with food boxes, educational materials, youth mentorship, and empowerment workshops.
Right now, we run a “Feeding Families” program that targets the root of local food insecurity. For each family we feed, we reduce the world child malnutrition figure. This also gives parents and children the foundation they need to focus on education and build a better future.
We need to reach more families this year, and we cannot do it alone. We want to bring you on this mission! No need to travel around the world; you can make an immediate impact right here in our community.
Visit the Greater Works Charity Donation Page to support our work financially, or contact us today to sign up as a local volunteer.
