Sudan's El Niño Drought Kills Hundreds of Children — SkimNews
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- Sudan's El Niño drought has killed hundreds of children from starvation, cholera, and measles, with the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification warning the humanitarian catastrophe could tip into a full-blown famine.
- Hunger has already reached famine levels in two Darfur refugee camps, with at least 1,800 people dying of malnutrition in three areas controlled by Abdel Wahid al-Nur's rebel faction.
- Nearly 29 million people — 62% of Sudan's population — are already being forced to eat less or go hungry, and the failing harvest won't let families store food or earn income before the next rainy season in June, CARE's Manon Radosta warned.
- Sudan's civil war has displaced 14 million people and disrupted farming, while food and fuel prices have spiked because the US-Iran conflict is disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
- Donor countries have delivered only $1.25 billion of the $2.87 billion the UN says Sudan needs this year, a shortfall Radosta says means responders are "unable to keep people alive," worsened by US and UK foreign aid cuts.
- The current El Niño could exceed the previous sea-surface temperature record by 60%, potentially making 2027 the hottest year ever and triggering deadly Sahel heatwaves next March through May, according to University of Reading researchers.
Why it matters: With $1.62 billion of unmet UN funding needs, 29 million Sudanese already skipping meals, and the next rainy season still months away in June, the window to prevent mass starvation is closing fast — and simultaneous cuts to US and UK foreign aid are shrinking the tools left to stop it.
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