Attachments
Highlights:
North Darfur State
- North Darfur remained a hotspot after hostilities expanded to Um Baru, Kornoi, and Tina. 107,300 people2 are now displaced from Al Fasher, including a new wave of 7,5003 moving to nearby areas and to Chad.
- Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART) surveys in Um Baru revealed Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) at 57%, indicating critical malnutrition, compounded by poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), health, and vaccination coverage.
- In the past two weeks, UNICEF with its partners supported Tawila and areas surrounding Al Fasher through:
- Providing essential health services including consultations, reproductive care, immunization, and cholera control for internally displaced populations.
- Delivering community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) services and supplies, with over 9,000 children screened.
- Supporting safe water for provision for over 15,000 displaced people, expanding sanitation coverage and supporting hygiene promotion to reduce disease risks.
- Scaling up child protection, gender-based violence (GBV) response and psychosocial support (PSS) for displaced populations and provision of daily meals to 13,000 people through community kitchens.
Kordofan and White Nile States
- Kordofan faced intensified hostilities, El-Diling and Kadugli remained sieged, restricting movement and services and El Obeid remained contested, causing continuous population movements and complicating response.
- 64,890 people are now displaced4, with families facing urgent needs for food, health, WASH, and protection amid limited access and overstretched services.
- Over the past two weeks, UNICEF through its partners provided multi-sector life-saving response by:
- Supporting essential health services and immunization and effective cholera prevention and scaling up nutrition screening and treatment for thousands of children and caregivers.
- Maintaining safe water and sanitation for tens of thousands through trucking, chlorination, latrine construction, and hygiene kit distribution.
- Expanding child protection, GBV response, and PSS, strengthening birth registration and supporting education continuity despite insecurity.
Situation Update
North Darfur State
North Darfur remained a hotspot following the spread of conflict to Um Baru, Kornoi, and Tina localities. Displacement from Al Fasher continued, with an estimated 107,300 people affected, although numbers have declined since the initial surge after the 26 October attack. The latest escalation, between 25 and 26 December 2025, triggered a new wave of displacement of about 7,500 individuals, into neighboring areas in Darfur and across the Chad border. Many of those affected have faced repeated displacement, and movements remain ongoing and are likely to rise if hostilities intensify.
The humanitarian situation became increasingly dire. Access to basic services is severely limited, and a recent SMART survey in Um Baru reported GAM prevalence at 57%, with similarly high levels in Kornoi. These findings point to a critical nutrition crisis compounded by poor WASH, health, and vaccination coverage. Continued conflict is expected to further aggravate conditions. A UN security assessment mission on 26 December in Al Fasher, in which UNICEF participated, confirmed major concerns over access to services for civilians in the three assessed gathering sites, underscoring urgent humanitarian needs.
Kordofan and White Nile States
The security situation in Kordofan remained highly volatile, with a sharp escalation in hostilities over the reporting period. Armed clashes caused civilian casualties, displacement, and damage to critical infrastructure. Shifting frontlines and sustained aerial and ground operations heightened risks to civilians, while the ongoing siege of El-Diling and Kadugli continued to severely restrict movement, access to services, and humanitarian assistance. These conditions continued to disrupt livelihoods, increase protection risks, and deepen humanitarian needs across the region.
El Obeid also remained under pressure. Population movements in and out of El Obeid persisted as civilians sought safety, with Sheikan locality serving as a concentration point, though many groups remained mobile and difficult to reach.
Between 25 October and 30 December, an estimated 64,8905 people were displaced across Kordofan, including 11,680 during the last week of 2025. Newly displaced families faced acute needs for food, health care, safe water, sanitation, and protection—particularly women and children. Limited access and overstretched services compounded the crisis, underscoring the urgency of a scaled-up response