In Renk, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, mother feeds her child from a packet of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) supplied by UNICEF to treat malnourished children.

Emergency Response

Malnutrition Crisis: Reaching Children in Need in South Sudan

March 15, 2025

Maryanne Buechner

Amid multiple crises in the country, malnutrition remains a critical public health concern. UNICEF is there, but with foreign aid cuts, more donor support is urgently needed.

Good nutrition is essential for child survival and development. Yet progress toward addressing malnutrition has stalled, particularly in countries like South Sudan, where conflict, climate change and rising food costs make it difficult if not impossible for millions of families to keep children properly nourished.

An estimated 7.7 million people in South Sudan, or 57 percent of the population, are at risk of acute food insecurity and worsening hunger through the 2025 lean season (April-July), up from 7.1 million in 2024, due to economic pressures, climate extremes such as floods and droughts, ongoing insecurity and the effects of the Sudan war.

UNICEF projects that some 2.1 million children under age 5 will suffer from moderate or severe wasting by July 2025, and that 1.1 million pregnant or breastfeeding women will face acute malnutrition.

Cuts in foreign aid are undermining malnutrition programs for children

Ongoing malnutrition prevention and treatment programs supported by UNICEF alongside local and international partners are facing severe funding shortfalls. Amid sharp reductions in foreign aid, support from individual and other private sector donors is needed more than ever to help ensure these programs continue reaching children in need.

Currently, 44,000 children are suffering from severe wasting and receiving UNICEF-supported treatment; they risk dying if UNICEF-supported programs continue to be interrupted.

Reporting from South Sudan, Nicholas Kristof wrote in a March 15, 2025 opinion piece for The New York Times that children are already dying as a result of foreign aid cuts.

On July 30, 2024, mothers and babies wait to be seen at the UNICEF-supported Renk Hospital in the far north of South Sudan. — Mothers and babies wait to be seen at the UNICEF-supported Renk Hospital in the far north of South Sudan. Between April 2023 and July 2024, nearly 800,000 people fled to South Sudan to escape war in neighboring Sudan, most arriving in Renk, Upper Nile State, near the Joda border crossing. UNICEF and partners continue to provide lifesaving health and nutrition services in Renk and across the country, but programs remain significantly underfunded and under threat due to reductions in foreign aid. © UNICEF/UNI632001/

A focus on malnutrition prevention and treatment in South Sudan

UNICEF South Sudan works with the government and other partners to support malnutrition prevention and treatment as part of its longstanding mission in the country. Nutrition is also a core component of emergency relief efforts aimed at children and families displaced and otherwise impacted by climate shocks — including seasonal flooding, which grows worse every year — and those impacted by violence, including returnees and refugees fleeing the fighting in Sudan.

There are counseling programs for parents and caregivers on best practices for infant and young child feeding. Cash assistance programs and other locally implemented initiatives help families diversify their children’s diets. UNICEF also supports the distribution of Vitamin A supplements and deworming tablets.

And when prevention falls short, UNICEF works with partners to ensure early detection and treatment of malnutrition. Timely detection by trained health care workers and caregivers is essential. With UNICEF support, over 2 million children aged six to 59 months in South Sudan were screened for malnutrition in 2024, and over 338,000 were admitted for treatment.

A mother and daughter, refugees from the Sudan war, sit inside a UNICEF-supported nutrition stabilization center in South Sudan. — Elizabeth Nyatang, 26, with her 16-month-old daughter Nyakin sit inside the UNICEF-supported nutrition stabilization center at Bentiu State Hospital, Unity State, South Sudan. When she was first admitted, Nyakin was very weak and sick; she had become malnourished during the family's flight from Khartoum after the Sudan war broke out, and their eventual resettlement in South Sudan, with relatives at a displacement camp. After two weeks of treatment with therapeutic milk and food, Nyakin showed significant improvement and was close to being discharged. Says Nyatang: “I am so grateful for the help and treatment I’ve received here at the hospital. Without this, I’m not sure my daughter would have made it.” © Nelson/UNICEF 2025

UNICEF has set even higher targets for 2025, but faces significant funding gaps. The action plan prioritizes expanding lifesaving treatments for severely wasted children and enhancing young children’s diets by integrating food and social protection systems. Emergency cash transfers will be incorporated into nutrition and health programs to strengthen support for vulnerable families.

In 2024, UNICEF South Sudan provided support to nearly 3.8 million people, including over 2.5 million children, according to the end-of-year situation report. Flexible donor funds proved critical to allow teams to prepare for and respond to floods and to meet urgent needs of South Sudanese returnees and refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan, UNICEF reported.

Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.

TOP PHOTO: In Renk, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, a mother feeds her child from a packet of ready-to-use therapeutic food, a highly effective treatment for acute malnutrition. UNICEF is the world's leading procurer of RUTF, procuring 80 percent of the global supply. © UNICEF/UNI553176

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