Attachments
Regional Overview
Situation Overview
Now known as the world’s largest displacement crisis, Sudan continues to be a conflict that shows little sign of ending. Exactly a year since the fighting began on 15 April 2023, more than 8.8 million had fled their homes, including close to 2 million people outside the country.
It is one of the fastest unfolding crises globally, with unprecedented needs. In Sudan, about 25 million people – of whom over 14 million are children – need humanitarian assistance and support. Some 17.7 million people are facing acute food insecurity--of these, 4.9 million people are on the brink of famine.
Over 6.6 million people are internally displaced and sheltered mainly with host communities. With close to 4 million children displaced, Sudan is facing the largest child displacement crisis in the world. With most schools closed or struggling to re-open across the country, a staggering 19 million school-aged children risk losing out on their education.
Disease outbreaks are increasing and about 65 per cent of the population lack access to healthcare and between 70 - 80 per cent of hospitals in conflict-affected areas are no longer functional. Over 11,000 suspected cases of cholera, including 305 deaths, were reported. Other disease outbreaks are ongoing in several states, including measles (4,000 cases with 106 deaths), malaria, and dengue fever. Over 700,000 children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
The neighbouring countries of the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, continue to receive new arrivals as the fighting continued and living conditions deteriorated in Sudan.
The crisis is spreading, and Uganda – which already has over 1 million refugees –welcomed 30,000 Sudanese refugees, including over 14,000 since the start of the year. In the past year, close to 16,000 Sudanese refugees have registered with UNHCR in Libya after travelling either directly from Sudan or through Chad and Egypt, while another 2,700 Sudanese are awaiting registration. The number of refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR in Tunisia has reached around 6,500. Both Libya and Tunisia are departure points for people attempting to move onwards to Europe. Nearly 6,000 Sudanese arrivals were recorded in Italy last year compared to 1,000 in 2022.
The Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) partners have mounted a life-saving response but, in many locations in the five refugee hosting countries, the response struggles to meet acceptable humanitarian standards and fails to provide resilience programming due to insufficient funding, with the RRP funded at just 7 per cent. Relocation of refugees away from the extremely congested transit centres in Chad and South Sudan, that risk outbreaks of disease, and more exposure to protection risks, such as gender-based violence (GBV) need continued funding.
There are very high levels of GBV and this requires much more support for a holistic response – this includes safe spaces, facilities for counselling, staff resources, and other much-needed interventions.
South Sudan received an average of 1,350 people daily, the largest influx from Sudan of over 640,000 people in total. The country continues to struggle with humanitarian challenges due to the conflict and poverty. The rainy season is fast approaching, and without additional funding, more people will be at risk.
WASH services are affected --in Ethiopia for example there is one latrine for 100 people – this does not allow for people to live in dignity and increases risk of disease. In Chad, nearly 50,000 malnourished children have been identified. Without funding, more than 1 million refugee children will be out of school in the RRP refugee hosting countries.
The joint launch of the 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), and the 2024 Sudan Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) was held on 7 February in Geneva. The 2024 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) is projected to cover the needs of 2.7 million people, including refugees, returnees (both refugees and migrants), third-country nationals, and host communities. The 82 partners are seeking USD 1.4 billion. The plan focuses on resilience, system strengthening, and critical humanitarian and lifesaving activities. The plan complements the 2024 Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan which appeals for $2.6 billion to reach over 18 million people with food, healthcare, cash, and other life-saving assistance in Sudan. This progress report covers the first four months of 2024, and assesses how RRP partners are helping those most affected in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan