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Sudan

Response to Crisis in Jabel Marra, Darfur - Intensified conflict displaces thousands in North and Central Darfur (24 February 2016)

Attachments

  • 85,000 people displaced in North Darfur

  • up to 90% of displaced are women and children in some locations

  • up to 50,000 people may be displaced in parts of Central Darfur

  • $5.5 million needed to respond to immediate humanitarian needs for children over the next four-six months

Over 100,000 people have been displaced since mid-January following fighting in the Jabel Marra area of Darfur. This is the highest level of displacement this region has seen in a decade.

In just one month, around half the total number of people displaced in the whole of Darfur in 2015 have been displaced in one area alone. The majority have fled to North Darfur, particularly Sortoni (41,500) and Tawilla (19,500), with others having fled to parts of Central Darfur where access by humanitarian agencies is very limited.

The conflict has had a disproportionate effect on children with reports from some locations of women and children making up to 90% of the newly displaced. UNICEF and partners are urgently responding to the lifesaving needs of children for services including water and sanitation, health, nutrition, child protection and continued education.

UNICEF has prepositioned supplies at eight locations in North Darfur and two in South Darfur covering initial humanitarian needs for some 100,000 people. This has enabled a rapid response from three prepositioned locations in North Darfur: Tawilla, Kutum and Kabkabiya with supplies covering the initial needs of 30,000 people. Supplies from other sites, as well as supplies stored in central warehouses in state capitals, are being diverted to scale up the response.

*Numbers and visuals from OCHA