Sudan Humanitarian Update 1st Quarter 2011

HIGHLIGHTS IN THE 1ST QUARTER

• The referendum on the status of southern Sudan was held peacefully with an overwhelming vote for secession.

• The number of new returnees from northern to southern Sudan since October 2011 reached 288,000 people by the end of March 2011.

• The rise in violence in southern Sudan in the postreferendum period is of growing concern, with civilian deaths and displacement, the disruption of livelihoods, and the potential disruption of the upcoming agricultural season.

• About 20,000 people left Abyei town and a few villages to the north of it in March due to a series of clashes in the area. Up to 70 per cent of those who left Abyei town have now returned.

• Tens of thousands of displaced people have arrived in camps and settlements due to an upsurge of fi ghting in parts of Darfur.

• The Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) allocated US$104 million to fund over 200 projects in the 1st quarter of 2011.