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Summary
CRS staff in West and Central Darfur conducted a preliminary assessment of health, nutrition and protection needs across six localities of West and Central Darfur. The assessment included a review of secondary data from CRS and other humanitarian actors working in the target areas, discussions with experienced project staff working in the target locations and primary data collected through key informant interviews with stakeholders at the state and locality levels. The assessment findings highlight severely hindered access to essential health and nutrition services across the surveyed localities of Central and West Darfur. Key barriers to accessing health and nutrition services include damaged infrastructure, stockouts of medical and nutrition supplies and vaccines, general insecurity while traveling to and seeking treatment at facilities, and insufficient staffing. Malaria, diarrheal diseases, and acute respiratory infections (ARI) were commonly reported health concerns, with poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions identified as an important contributor to the rise in infections and malnutrition. While operational mapping indicates a range of humanitarian actors are currently or planning to support health and nutrition facilities in West Darfur, most are facing supply chain issues and limited capacity to provide very limited outpatient treatment for malnutrition with no other nutrition support services available.
Scope and Justification
The primary aim of this needs assessment was to gather information on the health, nutrition and protection context in Habila, Foro Baranga and Ag Geneina localities of West Darfur and Zalingi, Azum and Wadi Saleh localities of Central Darfur (Figure 1). The findings of this assessment have informed the design—including project management feasibility and target locations based on needs, gaps in services and presence of internally displaced persons (IDPs)—of a potential emergency health and nutrition response for crisis-affected communities in West and Central Darfur.
This assessment sought to answer the following questions:
• What are the most critical health and nutrition needs of women, men, girls, and boys from crisis-affected communities in the target locations in West and Central Darfur (considering gender, age, displacement status and diversity factors)?
• What health and nutrition services are available in the target locations and where are the gaps to ensuring equitable and safe access to services?
• What are the protection risks and appropriate mitigation measures to consider in the project design (considering gender, age, diversity) to prevent or mitigate negative effects arising from the context and activities?