Attachments
OVERVIEW
By January 2024, nine months since the crisis in Sudan erupted, 7.7 million people have been forcibly displaced. More than 1.5 million people have arrived in neighbouring countries including refugees, returnees, and third country nationals, with 6 million newly internally displaced within Sudan. These numbers continue to increase at an alarming rate as the fighting and displacement continue, particularly with recent events in Sudan’s Al Jazirah state, with half a million forcibly displaced, including thousands arriving in neighbouring countries. The largest cross-border movements have been Sudanese refugees arriving in Chad and Egypt, and South Sudanese returning to South Sudan.
The 2024 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) outlines the multi-agency, multi-sector response strategy and financial requirements of 83 partners supporting host governments in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan to respond with life-saving and in tandem, resilience building interventions for a projected 2.7 million people, including refugees, returnees (both refugees and migrants), third country nationals and host communities. As humanitarian needs continue to grow exponentially, the financial requirements through the end of the year are USD 1.4 billion.
The ask covers crucial protection functions such as registration at the border and identification of the most vulnerable, response structures for gender-based violence, mental health, food, transport as many refugees and returnees are in remote locations in the hosting countries, logistics, health, and education among others. Importantly, this RRP focuses on a deliberate shift to resilience, system strengthening and capacity-building, continuing with efforts towards the inclusion of refugees and returnees in national systems, particularly in health and education, and more attention to economic inclusion and livelihoods. Given the fluid situation, the plan may be revised over the course of the year as needed, especially if the number of people forced to flee exceeds the planning projections, requiring the establishment of additional refugee settlements in neighbouring countries.
The implementation of the Sudan RRP is undertaken in accordance with the Global Compact on Refugees and the Refugee Coordination Model, in close collaboration with RRP partners, to support host governments who have taken the lead in responding to this crisis. UNHCR’s Regional Director for the East, Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes, Mr. Mamadou Dian Balde, is the Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan emergency. Existing coordination mechanisms are being strengthened across the response to work effectively, share information, avoid duplication of efforts, and engage development actors in supporting host communities and areas of return from the outset. UNHCR leads the response for refugees; IOM leads the response for migrants.