About 2.3 million children under the age of 5 require treatment for acute malnutrition, the U.N. has said, with over 700,000 of those in severe condition.
Independent since 2011, South Sudan has been crippled by violence and poor governance. United Nations investigators recently accused authorities of looting billions of dollars in public funds, as 9 million of South Sudan’s almost 12 million people rely on humanitarian assistance.
The Associated Press visited hospitals in South Sudan to document how funding cuts, renewed violence, climate change and entrenched corruption are converging to deepen the unfolding hunger crisis.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Adut Duor, 14 months old, sits on his mother’s lap in the malnutrition ward of Bunj Hospital in Maban, South Sudan, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Women sell goods at a small market in the Gendrassa Refugee Camp, Maban, South Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Women fetch water in Batil, Maban, South Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Women wait for cash assistance and dry grain from the U.N. World Food Programme in Gendrassa refugee camp, Maban, South Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)A man scoops up portions of wheat to be allocated to each waiting family after distribution by the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in the Gendrassa Refugee Camp, Maban, South Sudan, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Motorists pass outside Bor State Hospital in Bor, South Sudan, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)A mother sits with her child in the malnutrition ward of Bunj Hospital in Maban, South Sudan, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Mothers sit with their children in the malnutrition ward of Bor State Hospital in Bor, South Sudan, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)A woman stands with her child inside the compound of Bor State Hospital in Bor, South Sudan, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)Rebekah Nyekhor, 31 years old, a mother of five, stands inside her makeshift home, carrying her child, in an IDP camp on the outskirts of Bor, South Sudan, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly)
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