Funding gaps force closure of 50 nutrition centres in West Darfur, leaving 200,000 without services, UN says
May 21, Khartoum — More than 50 nutrition centres in West Darfur state have suspended operations due to funding shortfalls, cutting services to approximately 200,000 vulnerable people, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Thursday.
The closure compounds an already dire situation in which 8.4 million Sudanese require nutritional assistance this year, including five million children under the age of five and 3.4 million pregnant and breastfeeding women. An estimated 4.2 million children and women are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition.
“Funding gaps have forced more than 50 nutrition centres in West Darfur state, serving around 200,000 vulnerable people, to suspend their activities,” OCHA said in a statement. The World Food Programme separately reported that the cost of a local food basket rose by approximately 18% in April compared to March, driven by rising prices for sorghum and wheat flour.
Sudan’s humanitarian response plan has received $602 million — equivalent to just 21% of the $2.9 billion needed to assist more than 20 million people. Despite the shortfall, UN partners managed to reach nine million people with assistance between January and April.
OCHA said UN partners were supporting aid convoys in El Obeid following the reopening on Monday of a vital road linking North and South Kordofan, which had been cut off for months due to fighting and insecurity. Partners have begun using the route to transport medical supplies and other life-saving assistance to Dilling, where shortages of food, medicine, and basic goods have worsened the humanitarian situation. The Sudanese army broke the siege of Dilling — the second-largest city in South Kordofan — on Monday for the third time this year.
OCHA warned, however, that the security situation along the route to Dilling remains volatile. Local sources reported that drone strikes hit Dilling and surrounding areas on Wednesday, also striking a commercial truck and causing civilian casualties.
The office expressed grave concern over the escalating impact of drone attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. It said local sources reported that 28 people were killed and others wounded on Tuesday when a drone struck a crowded market in Ghabesh, West Kordofan. Additional drone attacks were also reported in the towns of Al-Fula, Babanusa, and Abu Zabad in West Kordofan, causing further civilian casualties and property damage.
Between January and April, 28 attacks were recorded against markets and 12 against healthcare facilities across Kordofan and Darfur, with fuel depots and supply routes also repeatedly targeted. On 11 May, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said drone strikes had killed 880 civilians, accounting for more than 80% of all conflict-related civilian deaths in the first four months of 2026.
OCHA renewed its call on all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to allow rapid, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access.