Relief agencies continue to assist newly displaced in Darfur

Aid agencies continue to register and provide assistance to the tens of thousands of people who fled the violence in North Darfur’s Tawila locality and the area of Jebel Marra.

Organisations have so far assessed and verified the needs of 31,800 newly displaced, who sought refuge in North, Central, and South Darfur the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reported in its latest weekly bulletin.  

Humanitarian interventions have been limited to areas where aid organisations are able to access the affected, while a significant number of newly displaced, particularly in Jebel Marra, are not accessible, because of the insecurity and access restrictions imposed by local authorities in the area.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has so far verified 2,600 of the reported 10,300 newly displaced people who arrived in Zamzam camp near the North Darfur capital of El Fasher between January and March. These people fled their homes in the western parts of Tawila locality and East Jebel Marra.

The international NGO Plan Sudan is constructing 715 latrines, needed to cater for the needs of the newly displaced, who arrived at the Rwanda, Dali and Argo camps in Tawila locality.

Guldo

The registration of displaced people taking refuge in Guldo town in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur, has reached to just over 16,300, according to the Sudanese government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC).

Some 7,800 of these 16,300 people received emergency shelter and household supplies from the international NGO Tearfund. The World Food Programme (WFP) distributed food rations to 4,325 displaced people, while the remaining 12,000 people will receive food aid following a renewed WFP assessment. The international NGO Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has submitted a request to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for emergency household supplies for the remaining 8,525 displaced people.

Election results

The current water supply in Guldo is insufficient to meet the needs of both the resident population and newly displaced. According to aid organisations, there are only two functioning hand pumps in the town, so the newly arrived displaced people collect water from open wells and springs in the wadis.

In response, the international NGO Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) plans to drill four new hand pumps, using funds received from the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF). They have yet to receive permission from local authorities to access Jebel Marra. According to HAC, aid organisations will be able to access the area after 27 April, once the election results are announced.

Aid agencies are also concerned that the current health services in the town are not enough to accommodate the needs of the newly displaced. In the Guldo health clinic, there are only two nurses and there are no referral services in place. The World Health Organization (WHO) will rehabilitate the clinic and has trained 11 midwives for the town. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) sent 150 obstetric kits to the Central Darfur Ministry of Health to meet the needs of women in the state, including the newly displaced in Guldo.

Rokoro

According to HAC in Central Darfur, an estimated 34,000 displaced people in Nisa Kam, Abonga, Torra, and Warra villages in Central Darfur’s Rokoro locality (northern Jebel Marra ) remain without assistance.

They fled their homes in the area of Fanga Soug following fighting between government forces and armed groups in January. Their main needs are food, emergency household supplies, health services, and clean water, HAC reported. Aid agencies are unable to access these people, because of restrictions imposed by local authorities in the area and insecurity.

3,400 newly displaced have returned to Fanga Soug, and received food, emergency household and shelter supplies from government institutions, HAC said.