Attachments
Regional Overview
MID-YEAR UPDATE
Since the devastating conflict broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April 2023, the magnitude of displacement within Sudan and into neighbouring and other countries is growing with two new hosting countries – Libya and Uganda – now also part of the Regional Refugee Response Plan.
As the conflict has continued to evolve with constant associated displacement, the Sudan situation is one of the largest displacement, humanitarian and protection crises in the world today. By June 2024, 10 million people have been forcibly displaced. Just over 2 million people have arrived in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda, including refugees, returnees, and third country nationals, with 7.7 million newly internally displaced within Sudan and 220,000 refugees who self-relocated within Sudan.
In May, Al Fasher in Sudan’s North Darfur State became a flashpoint as fighting escalated. Bombings and targeted attacks on densely populated areas have killed civilians, injured thousands, and damaged critical civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and IDP camps. Up to 143,000 people may have been forcibly displaced by the escalation of conflict. The fighting has disrupted aid deliveries with trucks loaded with supplies stuck at the Chad border and along the route from Port Sudan for weeks and months.
Sudan is facing the worst levels of acute food insecurity ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) in the country with 25.6M people facing crisis or worse conditions from June to September 2024. Locations like Darfur, Kordofan and even Khartoum are at risk of famine, compounding an already dire humanitarian situation caused by conflict, severe human rights violations and destruction. UN leaders have called for immediate and decisive action to prevent a hunger crisis that will affect millions, the most vulnerable being the hardest hit.
Most new arrivals from Sudan to neighbouring countries arrive in a poor nutritional state. But it is not only food that refugees need – they need shelter, health care, water and sanitation facilities, basic protection, psychosocial support and education for their children. As the rainy season starts again, especially in the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan, with some of the worst flooding in years anticipated in the latter, the logistics and cost of reaching people in border locations and even existing refugee settlements becomes extremely difficult.
At the tragic one-year mark of the Sudan crisis on 15 April 2024, donors pledged 2 billion Euros at a conference in Paris, cohosted by France, Germany and the European Union. However, despite the continued displacement crisis and looming famine, by 28 June, funding reported for the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan stood at just 19 per cent of the requirements.
The consequences of underfunding are many. Food is impacted in most hosting countries and the food basket provided to refugees could only partially meet the recommended dietary needs, leading to severe food insecurity among refugees and exacerbating harmful coping strategies to meet the nutritional needs of families. For example, in Ethiopia refugees receive 60 per cent of their rations, in Chad, 57 per cent, in South Sudan, just half, and in Uganda, depending on the level of vulnerability, some refugees receive 60 per cent of food rations, other 30 per cent and 4 per cent receive none.
Other examples of the cost of inaction are:
• Central African Republic: 24,000 refugees are without essential protection, shelter, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), healthcare, education, and food services.
• Chad: 180,000 new arrivals still are waiting for relocation in poor conditions at the spontaneous sites along the border.
• Egypt: 74,570 school-aged refugee children are not enrolled in schools and approximately 5,380 unaccompanied and separated children and children with special needs are not reached with educational programmes, denying them the specialized support they require for their development and well-being.
• Ethiopia: About 385 refugees with mental illnesses are unable to continue their treatment as mental health and psychosocial support activities were suspended in the Benishangul-Gumuz camps.
• South Sudan: USD 13.8 M is required to expand refugee camps and settlements to avoid severe overcrowding in existing facilities, compromising basic services such as shelter, water, sanitation, and education. Without these investments the risk of disease outbreaks, poor educational outcomes for children, and heightened vulnerability of residents, particularly women and children, will continue to increase.