Sudan OCHA bulletin 6: Organisations scale up aid to Jebel Marra

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reports in its latest humanitarian bulletin that humanitarian aid organisations are providing relief assistance to thousands of people in need in Golo town in Jebel Marra. The UN Children’s Agency has provided classroom seating for 3,000 students in five schools, and donated a drilling rig. UN agencies started mobilising resources to support up to 450 returnee families in West Darfur’s Sirba locality​. The Sudan Humanitarian Fund  has allocated $21 million to help thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance across Sudan in 2017​.

As for the first subject in Golo, in Rokoro locality and Jebel Marra, armed conflict in 2016 led to the displacement of almost 100,000 people, some of whom are starting to return to their areas of origin. Between 8 and 20 March, the World Food Programme (WFP) plans to distribute one-month food rations (230 metric tons) to 25,564 displaced people and returnees in Golo. Unicef has provided classroom seating for 3,000 students in five schools, while the State Ministry of Education has provided seating for an additional three schools. In addition, 16 classrooms have been rehabilitated in two schools in town. Moreover, Unicef trained 170 teachers for basic schools and school management.

For health, the State Ministry of Health with Unicef support has established a cold chain system in Golo hospital and stocked it with vaccines. The international NGO International Medical Corps assisted with staffing, and routine vaccinations have started. IMC is looking to bring in additional staff besides a number of doctors and paramedical staff.

In order to improve water services in Golo, Unicef donated a drilling rig to the Water and Environmental Sanitation Department (WES) in Golo. Since early January, two hand pumps were established in the town—in addition to the existing four.

2,000 returnees in West Darfur

UN agencies and partners started mobilising resources to support up to 350 returnee families (about 2,000 people) in Dumta village in West Darfur’s Sirba locality and 100 nomadic families in the nearby area, according to the Recovery, Return and Reintegration (RRR) sector in Sudan. In 2016, the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) reported new returns in a number of villages in West Darfur, including Breidya (El Geneina locality), Argod, Himeida, Gornei, Kuta, Ortaig, Gemainees, Dumta and Garwal (Sirba locality) and Shoyo, Kajameji, Tambali, Welegei and Umkharoba (Beida locality). 

The returnees in Breidya said that they returned from Chad where they fled to following inter-tribal tensions in the area between 2013 and 2014. In Shoyo village, only 33 of the 75 returnee families reported in the area were found. According to the returnees, the other 42 families returned to Chad after the harvest season.

$21 million to people in need

On 20 February 2017, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) – a multi-donor fund that responds to critical humanitarian needs in Sudan – has allocated $21 million to help thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance across Sudan in 2017, including 3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Darfur. This allocation is funded by the Governments of Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Over $5 million of the $21 million represents multi-year contributions, which will facilitate multi-year planning.