Denmark, Ireland donate $6 million to Sudan fund

Denmark and Ireland have donated $2.8 million and $3.2 million respectively to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund to support international and national humanitarian organisations in prioritised life-saving projects.

A statement of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan pointed to the humanitarian situations in Jebel Marra in Darfur, and of South Sudanese refugees into Sudan, as two emergency projects that need ongoing response from aid organisations.

“Timely and targeted contributions from the donor community are vital to ensure that the SHF continues to be a strategic and flexible funding mechanism that supports life-saving interventions,” said Marta Ruedas, of the UNRHC in Sudan.

“Funding received in 2016 will predominantly go towards supporting the response capacity of international and national NGOs – the front-line responders in emergencies.”

The $6 million funding by Denmark and Ireland will support ongoing emergency response activities across Sudan and aims to pilot innovative humanitarian interventions so as to ensure maximum impact on the ground.

In recent months, Sudan has witnessed wide-scale displacement from the Jebel Marra area in Darfur, with tens of thousands of people reportedly displaced. Humanitarian organisations are currently responding to needs on the ground, but acute gaps in life-saving assistance, such as water, nutrition, and health services provision, have stretched the existing capacity and funds.

Displaced and refugees

The UN estimated that at least 138,000 people from the Jebel Marra Massif were displaced as of 31 March. Aerial bombardments by the Sudanese Air Force have struck the area almost daily since mid-January, in the government’s attempt to crush the holdout rebel forces. The majority of the displaced has fled to camps in North Darfur. Activists have told Radio Dabanga that humanitarian organisations were able to provide thousands of them with aid.

Moreover, other new humanitarian needs such as the influx of South Sudanese refugees into Sudan have put additional pressure on the timely delivery of humanitarian aid. Since late January 2016, there has been a surge in the number of South Sudanese fleeing into Sudan.

Approximately 54,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in East and South Darfur and West Kordofan in just over two months. East Darfur has received about 43,000 of these new arrivals, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week.

In 2015, the Sudan Humanitarian Fund allocated $54.8 million for humanitarian action across Sudan.