Summary of major revisions made to emergency plan of action:
This update is requesting a no-cost three months extension (new end date: 16 August 2018). This extension will allow the deployment of a DCPRR Delegate from the region and a RDRT to Sudan to support the Sudanese Red Crescent (SRCS) to review humanitarian context and inform operational strategies such as revision of emergency appeal or convert into country operational plan. The emergency appeal operation is currently underfunded (3%) while the needs on the ground remain high.
A. Situation analysis
Description of the disaster
Roughly 4.8 million South Sudanese face severe food insecurity, and more than two million are displaced by conflict.
The conflict in South Sudan has further intensified since July 2016, with the exodus of refugees into neighboring countries continuing at an alarming rate, generating Africa’s largest refugee crisis. There has been a steady arrival of South Sudanese refugees mostly into East Darfur, South Darfur, White Nile, West Kurdufan and South Kurdufan states.
Alarmingly, more than one-third of the total population in South Sudan are food insecure and the prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) has reached above the 15 percent emergency threshold in seven of ten states and is approximately double the emergency threshold in Unity and Northern Bahr el-Ghazal states. The country has also suffered a cholera outbreak for the third consecutive year. The Government of Sudan has maintained an open border policy, allowing safe and unrestricted access to its territory for those fleeing the conflict in South Sudan, and has ensured their immediate protection and safety within its borders. As of May 2018, more than 351,0482 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan since the start of the conflict in December 2013.Thus, this Emergency Appeal was launched to enable IFRC to support SRCS in its emergency response. The SRCS had conducted needs assessment in all states receiving South Sudanese refugees and assessed the overall gaps of humanitarian support needed. Based on the assessments, the appeal interventions focus on emergency needs and reducing immediate vulnerabilities through interventions in Health including Psychosocial Support (PSS), WASH, Emergency Shelter and Settlement (including household items) and National Society Capacity building. The activities are targeting the most affected people, mostly new refugee arrivals due to the ongoing conflict and food insecurity in South Sudan. In this appeal, 12,708 households (63,540 people) are targeted.
The influx of refugees from South Sudan to Sudan continues. According to OCHA as of October 2017 more than 455,000 South Sudanese refugees had arrived in Sudan since the start of the conflict in South Sudan in December 2013. An additional 200,000 South Sudanese refugees are expected to enter the country in 2018. There are also over 155,000 long-term refugees living across five states in Eastern Sudan.