Figures show that two million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, 550,000 of them severely malnourished. (AFP photo)

KHARTOUM, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), Sudan office, on Wednesday launched an appeal to raise 110 million U.S. dollars to meet humanitarian needs for children in Sudan.

The appeal is part of a UNICEF annual global Humanitarian Action for Children, which aims at mobilizing resources and drawing attention to the plight of children worldwide, Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF representative to Sudan said in a statement Wednesday.

UNICEF in Sudan is planning to reach over two million children this year across the country, he added.

About 13 percent of African children who suffer from severe acute malnutrition are in Sudan, the statement said.

Figures show that two million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, 550,000 of them severely malnourished.

Conflict-related displacements, El Nino, epidemics, floods and droughts exacerbated the nutrition and food security situation of Sudanese children, the statement said.

Earlier statistics by Sudan's Health Ministry indicated that malnutrition surpasses eight known causes of children's deaths including malaria, blood poisoning, pneumonia, dehydration, gastroenteritis, anemia and heart disease.

Sudan's government is working with its partners to implement national priority programs addressing malnutrition and reducing children's mortality rates.