Highlights
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24,501 children (12,744 boys, 11,757 girls) including 10,608 South Sudanese Refugees (SSRs) in East Darfur, North Darfur, White Nile and West Kordofan benefited from psychological support services provided by UNICEF and partners.
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The Chikungunya outbreak which reported over 19,000 cases across the country since August is progressively declining toward containment in Eastern states. UNICEF worked alongside State Ministry of Health (SMoH) and other humanitarian partners in the response to the outbreak, UNICEF particularly contributed in the communication for development component.
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In partnership with Ministry of Education (MoE), UNICEF conducted 84 community events and enrolled 11,894 children (5,792 boys, 6,102 girls) to different grades within schools in North and West Kordofan states.
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3, 580 children under-five were screened for malnutrition, 1,534 children under-one received measles vaccination, and 1,243 (children under-one or children under-five) were provided with Vitamin A supplementation in South Kordofan.
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs:
Since January 2018, Sudan is facing serious economic challenges. By the end of September, the annual inflation rate had reached nearly 70 per cent in 2018, leading to a continued rise in the cost of living and a decrease in purchasing power. The situation was further aggravated by shortages in basic commodities, particularly fuel, wheat flour, and pharmaceuticals, causing major disruption in basic service delivery, including electricity, education, health and WASH services. In response to this situation, the Sudanese government is accelerating the pace of economic reforms. The Government is also planning a 15-month economic austerity programme, which would likely see major cuts to sector budget allocations in 2019. In order to inform its evidence-based advocacy around the economic situation, UNICEF Country Office in Sudan with support from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Regional Office, has engaged expertise from an International Policy Centre to undertake an analysis of the impact of the current economic situation on children and families in Sudan, as well as to develop possible options and scenarios for scaling up social impact mitigation measures.
As of 27 October, 19,804 Chikungunya cases were reported from Kassala State, 172 cases from Red Sea State and 47 cases from AlGedaref State. Approximately, 7 per cent of the reported cases are children less than 5 years of age and 60 per cent are females. No deaths have been officially reported. Al-Gedaref state is however reporting zero cases since 15 October. The Chikungunya outbreak that affected Sudan eastern states since 8 August and reached a peak of daily reporting of 572 cases on the 1st of October is now progressively declining towards containment.