Sudan OCHA bulletin 38: East Jebel Marra displaced need aid

Bureaucratic impediments have reportedly stalled food assistance in Nierteti town in Central Darfur's Jebel Marra, as local authorities claim that the continued provision of assistance to newly arriving displaced people has created a pull factor for people elsewhere, in search of aid.

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan in its bulletin this week, some 1,700 displaced people have not received emergency food rations since being displaced to Nierteti in Central Darfur between March and June 2015. The newly displaced fled from the north and central areas of East Jebel Marra region, including Golo town, as a result of fighting between government forces and armed groups earlier in the year.

Negotiations are ongoing, the humanitarian office reports, to carry out an assessment and verification by the World Food Programme (WFP), which is prepared to distribute emergency food rations to these newly displaced people.

Malnutrition plan

The Sudanese Ministry of Health has allocated over SDG50 million ($8 million) to treat malnutrition and cover existing gaps in the resources of humanitarian partners. The amount will be used to scale-up community-based management of acute malnutrition and to purchase ready-to-use therapeutic food and routine drugs in order to increase the number of children that receives treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

A recent monitoring mission by Unicef to Labado town in East Darfur’s Yassin locality found that the nutrition programme – operated by Tearfund – lacked essential staff and supplies, as well as a centre for treating severely malnourished children. Severely malnourished children must be referred to Ed Daein or Nyala, which are respectively 130 and 65 kms away.

Restrictions on food

The shortage of World Food Programme's super cereals because of restrictions on the import of relief items continues to affect projects in the state. Nutrition projects reporting to OCHA say that this gap in super cereals will leave an estimated 2,144 children in East Darfur at risk of malnutrition.

South Sudanese refugees

As of 16 September, a total of 192,281 South Sudanese have arrived in Sudan since December 2013 with a large majority (108,313 people) settling in White Nile state, according to UNHCR. This continued flow of refugees has severely strained existing facilities and resources in White Nile’s seven refugee sites, with the water and sanitation situation in the sites remaining a main concern and priority of partners.