Attachments
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Note: The last fact sheet was dated March 30, 2009
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
- On April 2, the newly appointed U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Major General J. Scott Gration arrived in Khartoum for meetings with Government of National Unity (GNU) and other Sudanese officials, U.N. agencies, donors, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). General Gration is scheduled to travel to Darfur, Southern Sudan, and the Three Areas during the visit.
- On April 2, the GNU Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) commenced a field assessment of the impact of the early March NGO expulsions on the humanitarian situation in the Three Areas. The March 4 and 5 NGO expulsions affected five of the largest international aid agencies working in the Three Areas, including four USAID implementing partners.
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NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
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SOURCE
| |
| Total Affected Population in Darfur |
4.7 million
| OCHA(1) - March 2009 |
| Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Darfur |
2.7 million
| OCHA - March 2009 |
| Population with Reduced Access to Health Care due to Expulsions |
1.5 million
| OCHA - March 2009 |
| Population with Reduced Access Adequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services due to Expulsions |
1.16 million
| UNICEF (2) - March 2009 |
| Population with Reduced Access to Food Aid due to Expulsions |
1.1 million
| OCHA - March 2009 |
FY 2009 HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE
USAID/OFDA Assistance to Sudan and
Eastern Chad: $22,938,486
USAID/FFP(3) Assistance to Sudan and Eastern Chad: $372,515,300
State/PRM(4) Assistance to Sudan and Eastern Chad: $36,474,750
Total USAID and State Humanitarian Assistance to Sudan and Eastern Chad:
$431,928,536
CURRENT SITUATION
- According to the U.N. Country Team, between March 4 and 25, expelled humanitarian organizations lost 354 vehicles, 684 computers, and 1,035 radios due to asset seizures by the Sudanese government. In comparison, during all of 2008, humanitarian agencies lost 277 vehicles due to banditry and insecurity in Darfur.
- In addition, the U.N. reported that the Sudanese government has restricted humanitarian agencies' access to affected populations on more than 50 occasions. Since early February, the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), U.N. Mine Action Organization, International Organization for Migration, and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have encountered bureaucratic impediments to international staff travel, preventing international personnel from visiting South Darfur. As of April 2, the U.N. also reported that the GNU HAC had not approved 93 percent of pending technical agreements-the document required for NGOs to obtain work and travel permits.
Health and Nutrition
- According to the joint GNU-U.N. assessment mission to Darfur, the NGO expulsions significantly disrupted health and nutrition surveillance systems in northern Sudan. Following the expulsions in March, the U.N. observed a 20 percent decrease in reporting from the 146 surveillance sites in Darfur. The assessment report highlighted the importance of strengthening reporting systems prior to the June to September rainy season in order to monitor increases in communicable diseases. In addition, the expulsions resulted in the loss of 43 USAID-funded nutritional screening and referral sites, resulting in a significant reduction in organizations' ability to screen children for malnutrition.
- UNICEF and state ministries of health (MOH) are working to fill gaps left by expelled partners for therapeutic feeding centers (TFCs) and outpatient therapeutic programs (OTPs) in North Darfur and supplementary feeding programs (SFPs) in South Darfur. In Al Salaam and Abu Shouk IDP camps in North Darfur, UNICEF is providing a one-month salary to former staff of the expelled NGO Action Contre la Faim (ACF) and supporting the operational costs of the organization's TFCs and OTPs. In Kass and Kubum, South Darfur, the state MOH and former CARE staff have restarted SFPs and OTPs with UNICEF support.
- According to the U.N. Country Team, Shearia and Adila localities in South Darfur are currently without functioning primary health care centers following the NGO expulsions. In addition, the expulsions left 79,000 individuals in Nertiti, Zalingei, and Ed al Fursan without community-based health services.
- As of April 1, IDPs in Kalma camp in South Darfur and Hassa Hissa camp in West Darfur continued to refuse Sudanese government health staff and NGOs access to the camps to fill gaps in nutrition and health services, according to UNICEF.
- On April 2, OCHA reported the commencement of the National Immunization Days polio vaccination campaign in the three Darfur states. However, IDP leaders in Kalma camp, South Darfur, have refused access for the accinationcampaign, and government health workers lack access to populations in eastern Jebel Marra, West Darfur.