In April 2023, Nala’s life was turned upside down when the war broke out in Sudan, leaving the 45-year-old struggling to get enough food for her three children. By winter 2025, the conflict had escalated, and the family’s situation was worsening. Nala had been hit by shrapnel, causing injuries that left her unable to seek help for her youngest son, who was quickly losing weight.
The kindergartner was facing the most life-threatening form of hunger – severe acute malnutrition – a condition that now impacts more than 700,000 children under the age of five in Sudan, where the war entered its third year last month.
Nala eventually managed to get her son enrolled on one of the 114 UN World Food Programme-funded therapeutic feeding programs for children facing acute malnutrition. With this and medical follow-ups, he reached a healthy weight. For now, Nala’s family is no longer facing the most acute stages of famine.
