Sudan 2014 Humanitarian Plan launched in Khartoum

The Sudanese government and aid agencies publicly launched the Sudan 2014 Humanitarian Plan on Wednesday. The appeal seeks $995 million to meet the needs of the most vulnerable 6.1 million people across the country in 2014, according to a press release of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Khartoum. The Plan is based on the development of a more systematic, transparent evidence-based and analytical means of determining humanitarian needs across Sudan, known as the Humanitarian Needs Overview. The core of humanitarian action in the Plan concentrates on saving lives and delivering protection in emergency settings, while also including resilience building opportunities and the strengthening of durable solutions, when and where appropriate. Growing needsSudan continues to face enormous challenges. Overall, of the 6.1 million people requiring humanitarian aid in Sudan, there are approximately 1.2 million war-affected people in need in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, 325,000 people in Kassala, 258,000 in North Kordofan, and 230,000 people in Red Sea states in need of nutritional support, the press release stated. “The 2014 UN and Partners Humanitarian Work Plan has a key role in addressing these needs,” said Dr Suleiman Abdel Rahman Suleiman, the General Commissioner of the Government of Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid. “We appreciate the increased transparency of the Humanitarian Work Plan process reflected in the humanitarian needs overview. This needs assessment has involved the participation of a broad range of humanitarian actors across all sectors and geographic locations where humanitarian need exists in Sudan.”Given the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur, it is more important than ever that the humanitarian community in Sudan work to facilitate timely and principled humanitarian action that enables immediate humanitarian needs to be met. It is imperative that humanitarian teams working in Sudan ensure that their workers are safe and have the ability to reach affected communities, together with Sudanese national entities in the government and the non-government sectors. “We thank all the donors who have contributed generously to the humanitarian operation in Sudan and urge them to heighten the visibility of Sudan’s humanitarian crises and to support the response with more funding for life-saving activities. We also thank the Sudanese authorities who have made great efforts to help people in need in this country,” said Ali Al Za’tari, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. “The humanitarian crises in Sudan, regardless of their root causes, are not fading but are instead intensifying, and the response requires funding commensurate with these growing needs.” File photo: 9 March 2014. A newly displaced family in a provisional shelter in the Kalma camp for the displaced in South Darfur. They had to flee their home in the village of Khiger, southeast of Nyala, during the Rapid Support Forces’ attacks on 27 and 28 February this year. (Albert Gonzalez Farran/Unamid)