Sudan OCHA bulletin 10: Funding gap for health services in South Darfur camp

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that up to 185,000 people in the Otash camp for the displaced and the surrounding neighbourhoods are at risk of facing difficulties in accessing health services because of funding constraints.

Otash camp is located in the northern outskirts of Nyala, capital of South Darfur, and hosts an estimated 110,000 people, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan states in its latest weekly bulletin.

Because of its proximity to the town, health services in the camp serve an estimated additional 75,000 people. According to WHO, the current health facilities in the camp are insufficient to properly serve the 6,000-7,000 people in need per week, and an additional five basic health units are needed to cover health needs.

WHO’s implementing partner, the Rufaida Health Foundation (RHF), will have to close down operations in May if they do not receive funding.

Over 95,000 South Sudanese refugees arrive in Sudan in 2017

More than 10,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan during the first half of April, bringing the number of refugee arrivals from South Sudan to over 95,000 since the beginning of 2017.

As of 15 April 2017, Sudan hosts about a quarter of the estimated 1.6 million South Sudanese refugees in the region, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Overall, almost 390,000 South Sudanese have sought shelter in Sudan since December 2013. The highest numbers of new arrivals in 2017 are reported in East Darfur and White Nile states – about 68 percent.

Japan funding for Unicef support to vulnerable women and children in Kordofan

On 13 April, the Government of Japan announced a $955,000 grant to Unicef, the OCHA bulletin reads.

The grant will help address basic humanitarian needs of children and their caregivers in South and West Kordofan states, with a focus on health, education, nutrition and the integration of water and sanitation. The funds will enable some 95,000 children under the age of two years to be vaccinated against measles and polio, 70,000 pregnant women to be attended by skilled birth personnel, while 60,000 infants will be provided with essential newborn care.

Furthermore, this support will help provide access to education through the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms and the provision of teaching and learning materials for over 10,000 vulnerable and conflict-affected school age children.

About 160,000 people are in need of assistance in Abyei

According to the UN Secretary-General’s most recent report on the Abyei area, the humanitarian situation has remained relatively stable in the absence of large-scale clashes and displacement.

Nevertheless, approximately 160,000 people are in need of some form of assistance in the area. The activities of INGOs (funded directly by donors or through UN agencies) cover all sectors, including nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene, and livelihoods. These activities are conducted almost entirely in the central and southern parts of Abyei. Some UN agencies and two Sudanese NGOs are able to operate in northern Abyei, with support focused on the rehabilitation of public buildings/facilities and water points, community livelihoods and vaccination of livestock.

New UN-World Bank framework to build resilience in conflict areas

On 22 April, the UN and World Bank signed a partnership framework that focuses on building resilience for the most vulnerable people by reducing poverty, promoting shared prosperity, enhancing food security, and sustaining peace in crisis-affected situations.

The framework builds on almost a decade of efforts to strengthen UN-World Bank collaboration in crisis-affected situations, updating an earlier framework signed in 2008. It reflects developments since then, including commitments made at the World Humanitarian Summit last May calling for a “new way of working” that shifts the focus from “meeting needs” to “reducing needs, risks, and vulnerability.”

Sudan is a pilot country for the humanitarian-development nexus, with humanitarian actors in the country working on a 2017-2019 Multi-Year Humanitarian Strategy.