As Sudan enters its third year of devastating conflict, the global children’s charity World Vision has issued a grave warning: More than 600,000 people could die within days or weeks unless urgent humanitarian action is taken. Children remain at heightened risk amid widespread displacement, escalating hunger, and increasing violence.
More than 30 million people across Sudan — over half the country’s population and more than the entire population of Australia — now require humanitarian assistance. The crisis has intensified with rising sexual violence, unmet mental health needs, and food insecurity, creating one of the world’s most severe — and most neglected — humanitarian emergencies.
Sudan is also facing the largest internal displacement crisis in the world, with nearly 15 million people forced from their homes.
Mr Simon Mane, World Vision Sudan’s National Director, said:
“Sudan is now facing a perfect storm of hunger, violence, and trauma.
Children are suffering from acute malnutrition, families are being torn apart, and cholera cases in White Nile are putting 292,000 children at risk — yet the world remains largely silent.”
Mr Mane continued:
“There is simply not enough aid reaching the most vulnerable.
Thirty million people need humanitarian assistance — that’s three in every five people living in Sudan. Yet only 6.3 per cent of the original US$4.2 billion needed has been received. The appeal has now been cut to $2.4 billion, but unless this funding shortfall is reversed, children will die, and millions more will be left without food, water, and essential services.”
The recapture of areas in Khartoum offers a brief window to scale up humanitarian operations. However, World Vision has warned that unless this moment is seized, acute food insecurity could rapidly spread across several regions. Due to funding shortages, the number of people targeted for humanitarian support has already been slashed from 20.9 million to 17.3 million, as outlined in the revised 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP).
Mr Mane added:
“We must do everything possible to get life-saving aid to children who are on the brink.
The fact that over 600,000 people are at risk is terrifying. If we said that nearly 1,000 jumbo jets were about to crash, killing that number of people — and that it could be prevented — surely the world would act. These are preventable deaths. Many are children. But not enough is being done.
Without immediate action, we are facing a food crisis that could rival the worst in modern history.”
A recent report by World Vision titled Unprecedented has laid bare the human cost of the conflict. The report estimates that up to 65% of women in Sudan may now be facing sexual violence, based on patterns observed in similar conflicts. Additionally, 6.1 million people are at risk of developing mental health conditions due to the trauma of conflict, hunger, and displacement. A staggering 15.7 million children and adults are now facing an elevated risk of long-term psychological harm.
Ms Phiona Koyiet, World Vision’s Senior Technical Advisor on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, said:
“Women and girls in Sudan are facing an unimaginable nightmare.
Sexual violence is being used against women, while children are suffering levels of trauma that will scar an entire generation. While the world rightly focuses on other global crises, I fear Sudan is being forgotten. We must not allow this to continue.”
As the country marks two years of war, World Vision is urging the international community to prioritise funding for food, nutrition, protection services, mental health support, education in emergencies, and peacebuilding efforts.
Mr Mane concluded:
“Thousands of lives will be affected in the coming weeks if the international community does not act.
We also need full and unhindered humanitarian access across conflict lines, so we can deliver essential aid where it’s needed most.”
