Sudan

Funding appeals and humanitarian action updates

UNICEF is working with government and remaining non-government partners to address immediate gaps in provision of life-saving services, following the suspension of 16 non-governmental organizations by the Government of Sudan. Disrupted health/nutrition services and general food distribution are feared to exacerbate malnutrition levels among children and many malnourished children may not have access to nutrition and health services during the approaching hunger gap season, which starts in April. The annual floods season starts in May, and preparedness activities to prevent/minimize cholera/Acute Watery Diarrhoea outbreaks and response capacity will be severely hampered with the departure of the key NGOs. In the interim, UNICEF will strive to ensure that basic services are met wherever possible, but does not have the capacity or resources to implement all the programmes that would have been provided by the suspended organizations. The biggest impact will be in Darfur, where a major humanitarian crisis is ongoing with 2.7 million people displaced, for whom these NGOs have been providing life-saving humanitarian services. Due to the suspension of activities of these NGOs, live-saving activities for an estimated up to 1.5 million people are feared to be interrupted. UNICEF Sudan has so far only received US$ 9,453,202 (6%) out of the UNICEF needs of US$148,531,197 reflected in the 2009 Sudan Workplan.
Sudan Humanitarian Action Update 13 March 2009

Throughout April, the humanitarian context remained a challenge in Darfur and the rest of Sudan, including implementation of the Joint Communiqué for Darfur. As of 21 April, over 26,000 internally displaced people from Khartoum and other Northern States have been assisted in returning to Southern Sudan and the ‘Three Areas’ of South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Abyei within the joint returns plan of the UN, the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan.
Sudan Monthly Report April 2007 [pdf]

Although Darfur remains the worst complex emergency in the world, UN agencies and partners working in the region have reported a dramatic decline in donor support. Sadly, as media coverage has dwindled over the past two years, security has further deteriorated, the caseload of conflict-affected persons has risen and the dependency of communities on humanitarian aid has increased—meaning that funding cuts will make a direct and unfortunate impact on children and families, likely eroding the progress made. Due to the lack of funding, UNICEF is currently in the process of planning scale-back measures and strategies for handing over lifesustaining and life-saving programmes to the government, despite its limited capacity to fund and manage activities. With rationalization of costs and scaling-back of programmes, UNICEF’s remaining funding will carry its operations in Darfur through until mid-May. If UNICEF does not secure funding in the next three months major cuts will be made with serious consequences for children. UNICEF urgently requires US$ 87 million to continue its life-sustaining and lifesaving programmes.
Darfur Donor Update 16 March 2006 [pdf]