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BACKGROUND
In 2010, Sudan continues to cope with the effects of conflict, displacement, and insecurity. 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). Despite the February 23 ceasefire agreement between the Sudanese Government of National Unity (GNU) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) opposition group, periodic conflict continues in Darfur among armed opposition factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), 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 through the 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 International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that since 2005, approximately 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. The area has experienced slow recovery following decades of conflict and humanitarian needs persist.
USAID/OFDA staff last traveled to eastern Sudan in late February to assess humanitarian conditions, although 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. USAID is working with other U.S. Government (USG) agencies, the U.N., and humanitarian agencies to closely monitor the humanitarian situation in advance of the April presidential election and potential post-election needs.