ReliefWeb

This regular update, covering humanitarian developments from 1 July to 31 August, is produced by OCHA Sudan. The next humanitarian update will be issued in October 2022.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Since the start of 2022, over 177,000 people were newly displaced in Sudan due to conflict, including 126,000 people in Darfur.

• This includes an estimated 38,000 people who were displaced from parts of Blue Nile in July 2022.

• Over 258,000 people have been affected by heavy rains and floods across the country.

• Prices of locally grown sorghum and millet continue to increase reaching new record levels in August.

• Refugees from South Sudan and Ethiopia continued to seek shelter, protection and other assistance in Sudan.

• The 2022 Sudan HRP is 31.5 per cent funded by the end of August 2022.

KEY FIGURES

177,400 People displaced by conflict in parts of Sudan. (Jan 2020 - 31 August 2022)

258,400 People affected by rains and flooding (unverified) (September 2022)

62,475 COVID-19 cases and 4,950 deaths reported (Jan 2020 - 30 June 2022)

$610.1M HRP funding received (31 August 2022)

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The humanitarian situation in Sudan continued to worsen during July-August 2022, with 177,350 people newly displaced between January-August 2022, including 126,000 newly displaced people in Darfur (accounting for about 71 per cent of all newly displaced people in 2022). Parts of Darfur, especially West Darfur State are experiencing a double whammy of local conflict, displacement and food insecurity. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update on food insecurity in Sudan, West Darfur has one of the highest ratios of acutely food insecure people in Sudan -- 42 per cent. Almost every second person in West Darfur is estimated to be experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (IPC Phases 3 and up).

IPC's latest update on food security in Sudan issued in June estimates that 11.7 million people in the country are acutely food insecure between June and September 2022, the peak of the lean season.

With the rainy season in full swing and approaching its peak between August and September, over 293,000 people have been affected by torrential rains and floods.

Humanitarian partners reached 7.1 million people across Sudan with some form of humanitarian assistance between January-June 2022. This is 65 per cent of the 10.9 million people targeted for assistance under the 2022 HRP, while they received only about 20 per cent of the funds requested. About 5.2 million people received food and livelihood assistance, close to 2 million people were provided with access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, almost 1.9 million people were reached with mine action activities, and about 0.9 million people were covered with healthcare services. Moreover, close to 850,000 children were provided with nutrition services and nutritional supplements, 775,000 vulnerable people were reached with protection activities and 550,000 refugees received various forms of assistance, protection and support.

The reduction in funding compared to previous years limits the partners' ability to respond, resulting in children not being able to fulfil their right to education. As the situation in Sudan worsens and fewer resources are made available for partners, the number of vulnerable families may increase because of the absence of programs. In addition to periodic confrontations between communities that caused the suspension of several planned projects from various partners, humanitarian access to vulnerable people, particularly in Darfur and Kordofan, was hampered. Secondary and new displacement impacted the mental and physical well-being of the affected people, and the psycho-social support beyond GBV response is a key gap. There are limited general protection actors across the country, particularly in the Blue Nile. About 80 per cent of localities in Sudan lack specialized GBV services such as clinical management of rape (CMR), Psycho-social support (PSS) and GBV case management. This service gap is further exacerbated by the shortage and high turnover of trained personnel and challenges with the referral of GBV survivors with transportation disruption. There are significant delays in the international procurement of medicines and medical supplies and a persistent lack of medicines in the local market, where availability does not exceed 31 per cent.

Over 37,000 people displaced in Blue Nile State

In July and August, more than 37,000 people were displaced following a conflict in Ganis town, Ar Rusayris locality, Blue Nile State that started on 14 July 2022. An estimated 18,541 displaced people were displaced to Ed Damazine town and outside Damazine locality. An additional 12,800 people have reportedly arrived in neighbouring Sennar, another 4,854 people are in White Nile and about 1,220 displaced people moved to Aj Jazirah State, according to reports from local authorities and humanitarian partners in those locations. Humanitarian organizations provide displaced and affected people with assistance. Protection coverage and monitoring in IDP gathering points in the Blue Nile are ongoing. Health cluster partners reached around 125,000 people with health services, including IDPs and refugees. Health partners have dispatched health supplies enough to cater to the needs of 30,000 people for three months. WFP provided 4,742 displaced people staying at the ten schools in Damazine town with food assistance for one week. Additionally, WFP provided 7,953 mothers and U5 children with emergency blanket supplementary feeding (E-BSFP) for one month in Damazine and Rosaries localities. GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR) reported the distribution of 4000 dignity kits to women and girls, distributions of 1500 sanitary pads to women and girls, and 4000 women and girls were reached by sensitization session on Basic GBV issues and services available. Education cluster partners carry out many humanitarian interventions, including supporting 47 schools with equipment and other needed assistance. Humanitarian partners will kick off the construction of 9 schools in the Blue Nile in the first week of October

Humanitarian partners face many operational challenges in the Blue Nile. The IDPs' figures need to be verified regularly due to the frequent movement of the IDPs. Classrooms in the Blue Nile are not enough to accommodate the increasing number of children due to the IDPs influx. GBV partners reported limited capacity of GBV service providers in the Blue Nile. Health cluster partners indicated a lack of medical staff in the state. Poor road access to hard-to-reach areas affected by floods and poor infrastructure in some areas hampers the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Rainy season and floods

As of 31 August, over 258,400 people have been affected by torrential rains and floods, according to the Government's Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and humanitarian partners reports. Heavy rains and floods destroyed at least 16,907 houses and damaged another 44,592 in 15 states. The government authorities reported that 100 people died and another 96 have been injured since the beginning of the rainy season in late May. On 30 August, the water levels at Khartoum, Atbara and Ed Deim water stations exceeded the flooding risk levels, while in Shandi in northern Sudan water levels were approaching flooding risk levels.

The most affected states are Gedaref (58,935people), Central Darfur (41,747 people), Kassala (25,890 people) South Darfur (30,680 people), White Nile (34,357 people), River Nile (16,572 people), West Darfur (17,354 people). Nine other states have also been affected to varying degrees: West Kordofan (6,000 people), South Kordofan (5,765 people), North Kordofan (14,830 people), East Darfur (3,650 people), Sennar (5,379 people), Aj Jazirah (8,715 people), Khartoum (2,741 people), and North Darfur (2,621 people).

Initial humanitarian response by UN agencies and NGOs is ongoing. Close to 42,000 people received shelter and NFI supplies, 16,000 people were reached with food, and at least 86,000 people accessed health services. At least 90,000 people were provided with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) supplies. However, more funding is required to address the immediate needs of people affected by the floods.

Poor road access to hard-to-reach areas affected by floods and poor infrastructure in some areas hampers the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance. In addition, urgent funds are needed to meet the needs of more than 125,000 school children who will require assistance to return to school at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year. Finally, the health cluster reported limited laboratory diagnostic capacity for epidemic detection in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

The nutrition cluster reported limited capacity and resources for the treatment of acute malnutrition---using the community management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) approach---and preventive nutrition interventions, including an emergency blanket supplementary feeding program (e-BSFP) for children under five years and Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLWs). Partner capacity to effectively respond to child protection needs is limited. Many children in detention centers and partners have limited capacity to deal with these cases.

An additional 43,213 dignity kits are needed to reach vulnerable women and girls of reproductive age. Referral pathways have been interrupted due to limited access to affected localities in Central, South, North, West, Gedaref, Kassala, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and White Nile states.

An additional 30,000 NFI kits are needed to support people affected by floods. In addition, there is a critical shortage of emergency shelter kits to support 16,800 houses destroyed by heavy rains and flooding. As a result, disease outbreaks pose a high risk, particularly in high concentration areas.

Food prices continue to rise

Prices of locally grown sorghum and millet continued to increase in August in most monitored markets in Sudan, rising by 10--35 per cent and reaching new record highs, according to FAO's latest Food Prices Monitoring Analysis (FPMA) Bulletin. Seasonal patterns were compounded by a faster-than-usual depletion of stocks from the below-average 2021 harvest and by concerns over the performance of the 2022 harvest, to be gathered from November. The 2022 harvested area and yields are likely to have been adversely affected by below-average early season rains constraining plantings, localized losses due to floods and soaring prices of agricultural inputs, including fuel. An increase in customs duties, which further inflated fuel prices and transport costs, added pressure to prices.

Prices of wheat, mainly consumed in urban areas and mostly imported, increased by 5-20 per cent, while in the capital, Khartoum, prices of wheat in July were twice their year-earlier levels. Import requirements for the 2022 marketing year (January/December) for wheat, are officially forecast at about 2 million tonnes. The high reliance on imports from the Russian Federation and Ukraine (over 50 per cent) and the prevailing high prices of wheat on international markets, coupled with low foreign currency reserves and the continued devaluation of the national currency, raise serious concerns about the country's capacity to fulfil its wheat requirements.

Cereal prices began to follow a sustained increasing trend in late 2017 due to the difficult macroeconomic situation, coupled with high prices of fuel and agricultural inputs inflating production and transportation costs. Heightened political instability and inter-communal clashes exerted further upward pressure on prices.

Refugees

Sudan continued to receive new refugees from neighbouring countries, mainly South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Since the start of 2022, about 30,000 refugees from South Sudan arrived in Sudan, mainly in White Nile State, East Darfur, West Kordofan and South Kordofan. Ethiopian refugees also continued to arrive in eastern Sudan and the Blue Nile Region, although in lower numbers. About 59,500 people had crossed into Sudan since the start of the crisis in northern Ethiopia in November 2020.

Owing to severe funding shortfalls, the World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan was forced to cut rations for refugees across the country. WFP regularly assists over 550,000 refugees in Sudan. Starting in July, refugees received only half a standard food basket, on an in-kind or cash basis.

Humanitarian Access

Local-level conflict involving inter-tribal disputes and non-state armed groups continues to affect the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Darfur remains the area of principal concern, in particular, West Darfur and the Jabal Marrah region; however, recent violence has also taken place in Blue Nile State. Outbreaks of localized conflict often result in affected communities having restricted access to humanitarian assistance due to impediments by conflict parties or fears for personal safety. International humanitarian staff is required to obtain Travel Notifications (TNs) approval from authorities before traveling beyond where they are based. While TN requests in some states are only approved by HAC Offices, in other states, multiple approvals are applied, requiring specific locations and timeframes that limit the ability to react to frequently changing circumstances. In addition, bureaucratic delays in approvals of NGOs' Technical Agreements (TAs) impede programme delivery. TAs are linked with issuing NGOs international staff visas and work permits. This affects the quick deployment of staff, particularly during emergency times.

Funding

By mid-September 2022, the 2022 Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) received $610.6 million, out of a total requirement of $1.94 billion (31.5 per cent funded), according to the financial tracking service (FTS). In September 2021, the 2021 HRP was funded at $658 million, out of a total requirement of $1.94 billion (34 per cent funded).

An additional $123.4million is funded outside the HRP, while in September 2021 this amounted to $166 million. Combined, this brings the difference in humanitarian funding in and outside the HRP compared to September 2021 to -$90 million, or -11 per cent.

The Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) has a current balance of $13 million. It has allocated over $52 million, similar to what it allocated in all of 2021. This was due to various sudden onset emergencies, which required lifesaving response and funding. In the last month, it has allocated $1.8 million to the flood response and $4.5 million against several emergencies related to recent inter-communal violence.

The UN and humanitarian partners in Sudan thank humanitarian donors for their support to humanitarian action and response in the country. They also advocate for early and expedient funding for humanitarian operations as the localised conflict, internal civilian displacement, floods, economic crisis, inflation, food insecurity and other challenges increase the needs and their gravity and deprivation of millions of vulnerable people.