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JUBA, (Eye Radio) – More than 60,000 malnourished children in Upper Nile state are at risk of starvation by the end of May, after violence blocked humanitarian routes and forced treatment supplies run critically low, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF warned on Thursday.

Many counties in Upper Nile have experienced a deteriorating security and political situation from March 2025, leading to the death of hundreds of people including civilians and soldiers, and the displacement of 125,000 others, according to the UN humanitarian agency.

The violence coupled with political tension and arrests involving South Sudan’s main peace partners in Juba, prompted the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General to warn that the country was on the brink of another civil war.

In a joint statement on May 8, WFP and UNICEF noted that intensified fighting along the White Nile river – the main humanitarian supply corridor into Upper Nile – has meant no humanitarian supplies have reached the area in almost a month. 

The press release underlined that Upper Nile State has some of the highest rates of malnutrition in South Sudan, with over 300,000 children affected by moderate or severe malnutrition in the past year.

As the rainy season progresses and conflict continues to displace families, the spread of waterborne diseases and increased food insecurity is expected to contribute to a rise in the number of malnourished children, the statement warned.

 It added that without urgent access and resupply of vital assistance, WFP and UNICEF expect to exhaust nutrition supplies to treat moderate and severe cases of malnutrition by the end of May.

The Un agencies fear that this will bring life-saving treatment programmes across the state to a halt, impacting tens of thousands of children undergoing treatment.

 In mid-April, barges carrying 1,000 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies bound for Upper Nile state were reportedly forced to return due to insecurity.

Further 3,000 additional metric tonnes are on standby in Bor – a humanitarian cargo hub along the Nile River – ready for delivery as soon as conditions allow.

 “Children are already the first to suffer during emergencies, if we can’t get nutrition supplies through, we are likely to see escalating malnutrition in areas already at breaking point,” said Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Representative in South Sudan.

“This is already one of the most food-insecure regions in South Sudan with extremely high rates of malnutrition, in these situations every day makes a difference for a malnourished child in need of life-saving treatment.”

 Due to security concerns and the high value of nutrition supplies, WFP and UNICEF are unable to preposition stock in insecure areas as doing so would leave health facilities and warehouses increasingly vulnerable to looting.

In Upper Nile, almost 2,000 cartons of life-saving nutrition supplies (around 26 metric tonnes) have already been looted since the onset of the conflict, robbing around 1,900 children of their only chance of treatment and recovery, the statement said.

 “We have reluctantly taken the unprecedented step of holding back supplies for fear that they will not reach the children that so desperately need them, due to the ongoing fighting, looting and disruption of the river route,” said UNICEF’s OIC Representative, Obia Achieng.

“If this continues, we are in danger of simply running out of supplies in counties across the state by the end of May 2025, with potentially catastrophic results for the youngest, most vulnerable children,” Achieng added.

WFP and UNICEF warn that without an urgent, safe resumption of deliveries, children across Upper Nile will face the devastating consequences of interrupted treatment—reversing hard-won gains in the fight against malnutrition and putting the lives of the youngest and most vulnerable at even greater risk.