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Sudan 2018 Humanitarian Needs Overview

Countries
Sudan
+ 7 more
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

Humanitarian needs & key figures

The HNO identifies the needs of people based on their vulnerabilities. For example, rather than assuming that all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are in need because they are displaced, only vulnerable IDPs have been considered. The main humanitarian needs in Sudan result from several factors: New and protracted displacement due to conflict, and chronic poverty and under-development including due to economic sanctions, affect access to basic services, disrupts the livelihoods and food security of many people and exposes the displaced to serious risks to their safety and dignity. Acute malnutrition in children under the age of five is above emergency thresholds in various areas across the country. Refugees and asylum seekers, especially from South Sudan, continue to arrive in Sudan seeking protection and humanitarian assistance. Returnees (both refugees and IDPs) are also vulnerable. Natural hazards in Sudan in particular floods and droughts impact food security and the livelihoods of vulnerable people.

The total number of people estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2018 is 5.5 million, an increase of 0.7 million compared to 2017. The increase in needs is due to: Access to areas that opened up in Jebel Marra, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, within the framework of the revised directives on humanitarian action published by the Government’s Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) in December 2016, enabled needs assessments to be conducted revealing severe malnutrition and access to basic services below emergency thresholds. While agricultural production improved in 2017, food insecurity needs increased mainly driven by increases in prices.
Without an increase in income, a larger proportion of IDPs are finding themselves with very limited economic access to food. The Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) outbreak that started in 2016 continued throughout 2017.

1 Basic services for internally displaced people

Darfur remains an epicentre of large-scale protracted displacement and most IDPs are unable to meet their basic needs independently. While the number of people displaced in 2017 has been limited, new needs have emerged in areas that have opened up to humanitarians workers, especially in Jebel Marra, South Korfodan and Blue Nile. According to recent estimates from the government of Sudan, as of November 2017, the number of IDPs has reduced from 2.3 million to 1.997 million. Based on revised estimates, there are about 386,000 returnees who have voluntarily returned to their places of origin across Sudan. The UN and partners will continue to work with the Government to further verify these numbers.
The United Nations (UN) and partners estimate that a further 500,000 displaced people live in host communities and settlements in Darfur. Armed movements in South Kordofan and Blue Nile estimate that an additional 545,000 people are displaced in areas under their control.

2 Food insecurity

The government Food Security Technical Secretariat (FSTS) estimates that in 2018, some 4.8 million people are living at crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity. Arable lands in some food-producing areas are difficult to access and, even when crops can be grown, inadequate transport infrastructure has prevented access to markets.

3 Acute malnutrition in children

According to the Ministry of Health of the 2.47 million children and PLW suffering from wasting (Global Acute Malnutrition – GAM) annually in Sudan, some 694,000 suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). In 2018, 11 out of the 18 states have a malnutrition prevalence of above 15 per cent, which is above the emergency threshold as per WHO standards

4 Influx of refugees

In 2018, an estimated 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers are living in Sudan and in need of humanitarian assistance. This includes over 455,000 South Sudanese refugees who had arrived in Sudan, as of 15 October, since the start of the conflict in South Sudan in December 2013, and an estimated 200,000 additional South Sudanese refugees anticipated to arrive in 2018. There are also over 155,000 refugees living in protracted situations across five states in Eastern Sudan.

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