More than 350,000 people receive aid in Darfur’s Jebel Marra

United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners have provided life-assistance to at least 350,000 people in previously inaccessible parts of Jebel Marra during the past nine months.

Other communities were reached for the first time in 10 years, during a need’s assessment carried out at the end of June in the area, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan said in its latest Situation Report.

According to the preliminary findings of the studies, hundreds of thousands of people in the region have little or no access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation products, and also lack health, nutrition, education, and protection services.

The most recent mission, led by OCHA, was able to assess the situation on the boundary of areas controlled by the government and those held by the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdelwahid El Nur.

According to community leaders, there are about 127,000 people in Gorlanbang village alone, including 11,800 displaced people from surrounding villages and 9,400 returnees. The displaced say they have not been able to travel to their home villages since 2017 due to security concerns. Fears of being raped also prevents women from going to their farms or collecting firewood.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other humanitarian partners are completing the registration of people in need and providing emergency humanitarian needs assistance.

Other areas of Jebel Marra are already receiving food, emergency shelter, non-food supplies, health, nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and education services.

The recent missions and assistance provided have been possible following important progress made since the last quarter of 2019 concerning the facilitation of humanitarian access to previously inaccessible areas in Darfur, with support from the government, non-state actors, and the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (Unamid).

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