ReliefWeb

Note: The last situation report was dated December 11, 2009.

BACKGROUND

In 2010, Sudan continues to cope with the effects of conflict, displacement, and insecurity countrywide. Since 2003, a complex emergency in Sudan's western region of Darfur has affected more than 4.7 million people, including nearly 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). In Darfur, conflict continues among armed opposition factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces, militias, and ethnic groups.

The National Congress Party and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement continue to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) through the joint Government of National Unity (GNU). The formation of the GNU officially ended more than two decades of north-south conflict. During the conflict, famine, fighting, and disease killed more than 2 million people, forced an estimated 500,000 Sudanese to seek refuge in neighboring countries, and displaced an additional 4 million individuals within Sudan. The U.N. estimates that since 2005, more than 2.2 million people have returned to Southern Sudan and the Three Areas of Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Abyei, straining scarce resources and weak infrastructure.

In eastern Sudan, the GNU and the Eastern Front opposition coalition signed the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement in 2006. However, humanitarian needs persist in the area, which has experienced slow recovery following decades of conflict. Access to the east remains restricted due to GNU control on travel.

On October 1, 2009, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires a.i., Mark L. Asquino renewed the disaster declaration for the complex emergency in Sudan for FY 2010. The U.S. Mission in Sudan has declared disasters due to the complex emergency annually since 1987.