UN Coordinator in Sudan warns of crisis

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan has expressed deep concern with the marked increase in humanitarian needs in Sudan which are not met with sufficient aid. The Sudanese Minister of Health said on Sunday that at least 13 million children suffer from anaemia. The Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Ali Al Za’tari, confirmed in a press release issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Sunday, that the UN and its partners have received so far in 2014 only 33 percent of the $995 million needed to meet the country’s humanitarian needs. “The shortage of funding puts at risk hundreds of thousands of affected people throughout the country,” he said. “While so far in the year there seems to be less international humanitarian funding available for Sudan’s Strategic Response Plan due it seems to emerging crises elsewhere in the region, Sudan’s humanitarian needs continue to mount. In the first quarter of 2014 alone, nearly 300,000 people in Darfur were displaced from their homes by violence. These people join the 2 million people in Darfur who are already living in camps and depend on international humanitarian aid to survive.” “The conflict in South Sudan has driven thousands of civilians, more than 80,000 by UN count in total so far, seeking refuge in Sudan thus putting pressure on a stretched system of life-saving support. On top of it fighting in South Kordofan continues to endanger and displace people while a persistent malnutrition problem in many parts of Sudan compound the pressures on the national and international humanitarian community to respond effectively and timely. If instability and increasing want continue without adequate mitigation, we will be looking at unprecedented numbers of people in total crises and need in the rest of the year,” Al Za’tari warned. Emergency fundingEarlier in 2014, in response to the growing humanitarian needs, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, who oversees the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), authorised an initial amount of $20 million to support lifesaving projects in Sudan, and later released an additional $6.5 million from the CERF to support the needs of the South Sudanese seeking shelter in Sudan.  Al Za’tari indicated that CERF funding is only provided in sudden emergencies in response to underfunded and/or rapid response situations both of which afflict Sudan. “Both the CERF and the Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) help humanitarian organisations receive funding quickly when it is needed to save lives, but they are not meant to substitute for much needed funding en masse by the international community,” he explained.  The CERF funding on its part augments the CHF, which has been operating in Sudan since 2006 and which on its own has been witnessing a steady decline in the past three years decreasing from $79.9 million in 2012 and $56.5 million in 2013 to $39.4million in 2014. Both funds support Sudan’s UN and partners’ humanitarian response which remains strikingly underfunded. Sudan has qualified in previous years for both underfunded and rapid response CERF funding, and in 2013 received the highest CERF allocation of $47.5 million among eligible countries due to the crises it witnessed. Anaemia The Sudanese Minister of Health, Bahr Abu Garda, disclosed on Sunday that at least 13 million children in Sudan are suffering from anaemia caused by malnutrition. Most of the cases are found in Darfur, South Kordofan, and the eastern states. Sudan has a population of nearly 35 million, of which more than 40 percent are children (under 14 years of age). File photo: A newly displaced family in Darfur Related:’Malnutrition spreading in Darfur’: UN (20 March 2014) Malnutrition reaches 40% among Darfur children: Unicef (5 February 2014) WHO: Child mortality from malnutrition reaches 40% in Sudan (23 September 2013)