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Sudan: Darfur Humanitarian Overview (1 October 2016)

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Sudan
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OCHA
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HIGHLIGHTS

In Darfur, fighting between government forces and armed movements has continued in recent years, lately in the Jebel Marra area. This continues to severely impact civilians, notably women and children. Inter-tribal tensions also continue to trigger conflict, which causes displacement of civilians and disruption of basic services. Conflict also prevents the return of displaced people to their areas of origin. Although access to some areas is ongoing, access to other areas, including where there is active conflict, remains denied.

According to the 2016 Humanitarian Needs Overview, some 3.3 million people are currently in need of humanitarian assistance in Darfur. Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) have remained displaced since the outbreak of the Darfur conflict in 2003. During the first nine months of 2016, approximately 82,000 people were newly displaced across Darfur, according to the UN and partners. Up to an additional 127,670 people were also reportedly displaced (in addition to about 59,000 who have reportedly returned) but the UN and partners have been unable to verify these figures due to a lack of adequate access to the relevant locations.

Since 2009, resources allocated to address humanitarian needs in Darfur have been insufficient, which, in addition to lack of access, has led to a drop in the number of aid workers. Prior to the 2009 expulsion of 13 INGOs, there were 17,700 national and international aid workers in Darfur. As of May 2016, there were 4,446 aid workers (97 per cent of whom are national staff) in international humanitarian organisations in Darfur. This represents a decrease of over 75 per cent in comparison to 2009.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.