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Sudan + 1 more

Sudan Situation Report, 17 Oct 2019 [EN/AR]

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Highlights

  • Sudan hosts the largest South Sudanese refugee population in the region, with an estimated 8600,000 reported in the country as of 30 September 2019.

  • Cholera outbreak continues, with 288 cases— including eight deaths—reported in Blue Nile and Sennar states as of 15 October 2019.

  • Oral Cholera Vaccination Campaign launched in Blue Nile and Sennar states, targeting 1.6 million people in high risk areas.

  • Humanitarian partners have developed a cholera readiness and response plan and are seeking US$ 20.3 million for the next three months.

Sudan hosts the largest South Sudanese refugee population in the region

In 2019, South Sudanese refugees continued arriving to the country as instability in South Sudan persists. When conflict erupted in South Sudan in mid-December 2013, over 2.2 million South Sudanese citizens fled their homes and took refuge in neighbouring countries. The Government of Sudan has maintained an open border policy, allowing safe and unrestricted access for those fleeing conflict and conflict-related food insecurity and granting them refugee status.
As of 30 September, Sudan hosts the largest number of South Sudanese refugees in the region with an estimated 859,000 refugees, with approximately 467,000 living in Sudan prior to the conflict in South Sudan. The total number of South Sudanese refugees includes UNHCR and Commission for Refugees (COR) registered refugees, Immigration Passport Police (IPP) registered figures, and the unregistered population. Additional sources estimate a total of 1.3 million South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, however this data require verification.

Assistance is being provided to South Sudanese refugees through the UNHCR multi-sectoral refugee response plan. According to the recently released South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan mid-year report (January – June 2019) , an estimated 339,000 South Sudanese refugees have received food assistance, either in-kind or cash, while 153,200 refugees targeted for food assistance have not been reached.

Health assistance has been provided to an estimated 283,000 refugees in refugee health facilities and 11,300 children under five years were given nutrition treatment and recovered. However, over 33 per cent of deliveries had no assistance from skilled health personnel. More than 63 per cent of all new refugees received full NFI kits and only 6 per cent of refugee families have access to household latrines. Refugees were able to access 15 litres of water per person per day, within the UNHCR water standard for emergencies.

Over 10,000 refugees were able to access livelihood or environment interventions and 2,250 families received fuel efficient stoves and alternative cooking fuel. This is less than 30 per cent of the targeted refugee population and over 70 per cent did not receive any livelihood, energy and environment assistance.

For protection, 36 community-based groups are working on sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response. An estimated 76 per cent of unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) were placed in appropriated interim and long-term alternative care. However, the child to caseworker ration is currently 108:1, while the standard is 25:1.

For education, an estimated 56,000 South Sudanese children were enrolled in basic schools and 2,212 children in secondary school, and about 48 parent-teacher associations (PTAs) were established and trained in various states hosting refugees from South Sudan. Limited secondary and tertiary education opportunities is contributing to increasing school drop-out rates.

Even though the need for additional and sufficient assistance is clearly evident for South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, funding remains a major challenge facing the response. As of 15 October 2019, only 13 per cent of the US $326 million requirement has been received. Inter-agency partners estimate up to 50,000 new arrivals in Sudan by the end of 2019, reaching a total refugee population of just over 900,000 refugees by the end of the year.

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