World’s attentions elsewhere while needs not being met in Africa’s worse disaster

On the 3rd anniversary of South Sudan’s independence, Oxfam has warned that appeals to fund the aid effort are failing as the country’s humanitarian crisis is spiralling out of control with malnutrition and sickness rising and an ever increasing number of people forced to flee their homes.

South Sudan is currently Africa’s worst crisis with nearly 4 million – a third of the country’s population - at risk of severe hunger and an aid effort that has only so far reached half of those in need. The UN has warned that if the aid effort does not increase 50,000 children could die from malnutrition. Since the current crisis began in December last year fighting has forced 1.5 million people from their homes and numbers continuing to rise.

Appeals for money for the aid effort are failing. The UN’s £1.06bn ($1.8bn) appeal is so far less than half funded. Oxfam’s own appeal for funds has only raised a half of the £17.8m ($30.35m) it needs.

“The world’s attention is elsewhere as Africa’s worst humanitarian catastrophe descends into more misery. We will be staring into the abyss and fail to avert a famine if funds do not start arriving soon to help the people of South Sudan at risk of starvation, disease and violence. More than six months into this crisis the aid effort is stumbling and will not cope without a timely injection of funds,” said Mark Goldring Oxfam’s Chief Executive.

In the three most affected areas of South Sudan – Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei – child malnutrition rates are rising. Thousands of people, many malnourished, have arrived at the UN camp in Bentiu, Unity State, in the last few weeks and over a six week period 100 children have died in the camp. In the UN camp in Malakal, Upper Nile, and Bor, Jonglei, people are living in atrocious conditions and are walking knee deep in mud and water. The stagnant water from the seasonal heavy rains increases the risk of disease. A cholera outbreak began in the capital Juba mid-April and though it has been contained there are fears that it could spread to other areas. Fighting in Upper Nile is seriously hampering the aid effort and in Jonglei over 400,000 have been force to flee their homes.

Refugees who have managed to cross into neighbouring countries are arriving weak and exhausted. Over 158,000 refugees have arrived in Ethiopia. At hospitals run by Medecins Sans Frontieres one in ten children admitted are dying. Another 117,000 refugees have arrived in Uganda, 85,000 in Sudan and nearly 40,000 in Kenya.

Oxfam has so far helped over 260,000 people in South Sudan with food, clean water, sanitation and cash. In Ethiopia Oxfam is helping set up water and sanitation in refugee camps and In Uganda it has helped nearly 45,000 people.

“This is a not a crisis caused by drought or flood. It is a political crisis turned violent. The people of South Sudan can only put their lives back together once the fighting ends. While peace talks remain stalled there will be little hope of a swift end to the conflict without sustained pressure on all parties to come to a peaceful resolution. That peace will only last if it meets the needs of all South Sudan’s people.

“In the meantime civilians caught up in this crisis not of their making will need generous international help to avert a famine and further suffering. For the sake of our common humanity we cannot look away at this time of crisis,” said Mark Goldring.

For more information contact:

Ian Bray +44 1865 472289 +44 7721 461339

Live TV links with spokespeople in South Sudan

Footage available to download

http://wordsandpictures.oxfam.org.uk/?c=16369&k=eac257bf28

Photographs available to download

http://wordsandpictures.oxfam.org.uk/?c=16376&k=cc0f4807a5

SG/SM/16008
AFR/2929
8 July 2014

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

On the occasion of the third anniversary of South Sudan’s independence, the Secretary-General recalls the hopes and expectations of the people of South Sudan when their country was established on 9 July 2011. Those hopes were dashed by the conflict that broke out in December 2013. Thousands of South Sudanese have been killed, and atrocities have been committed against civilians.

The South Sudanese people are bearing the brunt of the failure to stop the fighting. They are living in squalor, their livelihoods have been lost and they are plagued by hunger, disease and insecurity. Over 1.3 million people have been driven from their homes and, unless the resources are forthcoming and the parties cooperate, hundreds of thousands face the possibility of famine in the coming months.

The Secretary-General reminds the leaders of South Sudan that this is a man-made crisis. It is their responsibility and within their power to stop it. He calls on them to live up to the expectations of their people, lay down their arms and return immediately to the negotiation table.

The Secretary-General reassures the people of South Sudan that the United Nations stands with them and will continue to make every effort to provide them the protection and humanitarian assistance that is their basic right.

Three years on from scenes of joyful celebration that marked the birth of a new nation, South Sudan is now home to of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and edging closer to full‐scale famine.

More than 10,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of violence in December last year. More than 1.5 million people are now displaced from their homes, and at least 378,000 South Sudanese have fled from the violence into neighbouring Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda. Recent estimates from the United Nations (UN) say that 235,000 children under five will be malnourished and 50,000 may die if treatment services are not dramatically increased throughout the country.

CARE is supporting 50 healthcare facilities and providing other life‐saving assistance such as food, water and hygiene support to 150,000 people, as well as sexual and reproductive health services to women and girls affected by the conflict. CARE is also providing support to thousands of people camped in the UN compounds in the northern towns of Bentiu and Malakal.

However CARE now urgently needs more than USD $9 million (AUD $9.5 million) in order to meet the needs of 300,000 people.

CARE’s Country Director for South Sudan, Aimee Ansari said the outbreak of conflict in December had caused chaos across the country, leaving millions suffering through horrific violence and hunger. She said this been further compounded by a rainy season that had left large parts of the country cut off.

‘As we mark the third anniversary of South Sudan’s statehood, we should be reminded that this is still a young country whose people are in desperate need of assistance,’ said Ms Ansari.

‘In the past few weeks thousands of people have fled to the UN Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu seeking food and safety. It is alarming how quickly the needs are escalating as a famine threatens parts of the country.’

Ms Ansari said visiting CARE’s clinic in the northern town of Bentiu she had been reminded of the horror of what the people of South Sudan were facing.

‘Over five per cent of the children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. On the day I left Bentiu, CARE helped parents transport the bodies of children who had died from malnutrition to a burial site.

‘It was a brutal demonstration of the impact of the conflict, extreme hunger and a lack of funding.’

To support CARE’s South Sudan Appeal, visit www.care.org.au/south‐sudan or call 1800 020 046. $96 can feed two malnourished children.

CARE Australia is an international humanitarian aid organisation fighting poverty, with a special focus on working with women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. ‐ENDS‐ For interviews, please contact CARE Australia Media Advisor Tom Perry on 0419 567 777

South Sudanese refugees fleeing widespread violence in their homeland continue to arrive in Gambella, Ethiopia, after walking for days seeking safe shelter and food. By the end of June 2014, between 600 to 800 refugees were arriving at Burubiey transit camp each day, an increase from the 100 to 300 daily arrivals in previous weeks. Currently more than 140,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled to Gambella since the outbreak of the current conflict in South Sudan in December 2013.

Gambella’s main refugee camps remain very crowded. Plans are underway to expand the new camps of Kule 1 and 2, which have registered 51,476 and 37,287 refugees respectively. The old Leitchuor camp holds an additional 47,469 refugees.

Although proper tents were distributed to refugees in Kule 1, Kule 2, and Lietchuor camps, many people in Kule 1 and Lietchuor still only have pieces of plastic sheeting to protect them from the elements.

New arrivals first stay in transit camps. The Burubiey transit camp, which was overwhelmed in May by an estimated 20,000 people fleeing fighting in Nasir, South Sudan, was emptied in mid-June. Refugees who were living under very difficult conditions were transferred to the permanent camps of Kule 1 and Kule 2. Because of the flooded roads, boats were used to transport the refugees. However, the camp is full again, and a recent influx of refugees are waiting to be transferred to permanent settlements. More than 7,700 refugees are staying at Akobo and Pagak transit camps as well.

Clean water for drinking, washing, and cooking is a critical priority for the crowded camps. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) runs a water treatment plant that produces an average of 1 million liters a day of safe water for refugees. With a daily target of 15 liters per person per day, people in Pagak camp receive the full amount, while those in Kule camp receive 14 liters, in Lietchuor camp, 10 liters, and Kule 1 camp, 8 liters. Sanitation and hygiene are also a priority. MSF has built two-thirds of the 1,200 latrines intended for the camps, and nearly all hand washing points, but so far just 30 of the total 500 showers needed.

In this context, malnutrition is a serious problem. Testimonies by refugees show that many came to Gambella in search of food and safe shelter. “In May, South Sudanese fled because of the fighting,” says Dr. Natalie Roberts, MSF medical coordinator in Gambella. “Now they say they have left their country because of food deprivation."

New arrivals to Kule 1 and Kule 2 camps show up already malnourished. Food distribution in the camps is fragile, forcing many women, for instance, to walk nine kilometers [about 5.6 miles] from Kule 1 camp into town to grind their grain.

Malnutrition rates overall remained high in mid-June: 20 percent for global malnutrition and 6 percent for severe malnutrition. This is an improvement over the previous weeks but still above the emergency threshold of 5 percent of children suffering from severe malnutrition.

Children are also the most vulnerable to illness, contracting respiratory infections, diarrhea, and now malaria because the rainy season has started. Since the end of the measles epidemic in Gambella in May, those who are diagnosed with the disease now are mainly South Sudanese who have just arrived.

Cholera is another risk in the camp because of a current epidemic in South Sudan. MSF expects to launch a vaccination campaign, with the approval of the Ministry of Health, the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), and UNHCR, for a target population of 130,000 people, including refugees and residents.

MSF has conducted 35,361 medical consultations in Lietchuor camp and in Itang since early March and carried out 2,523 medical consultations in Kule 1 and Kule 2 camps in mid-June. During the same period, MSF treated 812 people for malaria in Lietchuor, Itang, Burubiey, Kule 1, and Kule 2 camps, numbers that are likely to increase. MSF also provided care to 1,060 children admitted in the two intensive therapeutic nutritional centers between March and July.

Finally, MSF managed to decrease the mortality rate at its two hospitals in Lietchuor camp (100 beds) and in Itang (130 beds) near Kule camp, respectively, to 11 percent and 7 percent in late June. However, the situation may deteriorate with the rainy season and the surge of related epidemics.

MSF is currently delivering medical care to South Sudanese refugees in Pagak transit camp; Burubiey transit camp; and the three refugee camps of Lietchuor, Kule 1, Kule 2, and Itang. Furthermore, MSF continues to deliver water and sanitation services to Pagak, Kule 1, Kule 2, and Burubiey camps.

Three years ago today was a time of cautious rejoicing – South Sudan had gained its independence, and the world’s newest nation was born. The event flagged a time of hope and anticipation after four decades of civil war and fighting. Despite the many challenges they faced in building a new nation, the people of South Sudan had a positive attitude.

Three years later, the situation is a stark contrast to this hope and optimism. There is unrest throughout the country, and hundreds of thousands of people are displaced, fleeing from conflict.

The current crisis in South Sudan began in December 2013 when fighting erupted in military barracks in the capital city of Juba. The fighting then spread into the rest of the country, causing the people to flee from their homes. Although ceasefire had been agreed to on a number of occasions, sporadic fighting has continued, and hundreds of thousands of people fear for their safety. It is estimated that over 10,000 people have died as a result of the fighting, and those who have been displaced have fled with very little, seeking protection wherever they can find.

CAFOD (Caritas UK) reports that “the country is teetering on the brink of catastrophe as it faces its worst food crisis in 25 years, brought about by the ongoing conflict.”

After the current crisis began, Caritas Australia supported an emergency program for those who had been displaced by the conflict. We helped provide food, health services and access to water to 20,000 vulnerable households across 7 dioceses.

Although this emergency program has now concluded, Caritas Australia is continuing to work in South Sudan on our long term development programs. These programs are:

• Helping communities improve access to clean water and basic sanitation through drilling new water points and constructing pit latrines

• Increasing awareness and understanding of HIV and AIDS, providing support to people living with these conditions, and encouraging voluntary testing for people in the communities

• Providing vulnerable households with livestock, seeds, fishing equipment and training in sustainable farming. This program was featured in Project Compassion 2014.

Fortunately these programs have not been directly affected by fighting in the country. However the Caritas network is anxiously watching the situation and continuing to pray for peace in the South Sudan.

So instead of celebrating on this third anniversary of the world’s youngest nation, we ask you to join us in praying for unity and peace in South Sudan.

by Aymeric VINCENOT

JUBA, July 9, 2014 (AFP) - South Sudan marks its third anniversary of independence on Wednesday, with civil war raging, the young nation divided by ethnic atrocities and on the brink of famine.

The streets of the capital have been lined with banners proclaiming "One People, One Nation", with the government of President Salva Kiir due to put on a show of force with a military parade and speeches delivered to celebrate the breakaway from the repressive government in Khartoum.

Authorities have deployed heavy security ahead of the commemorations, underscoring the bitter divisions in the world's youngest nation where a nearly seven-month-old civil war rages on.

"It's a sad anniversary," admitted Juba resident Gideon, 23, saying he had hoped for better three years on from the fanfare and optimism that swept the country in July 2011.

South Sudan has been wracked by war since mid-December, when presidential guards loyal to Kiir clashed with troops supporting ousted vice-president Riek Machar, who fled to the bush and rallied a huge rebel army.

The fighting has been marked by widespread atrocities against both members of the Nuer people, to which Machar belongs, and revenge attacks against Kiir's Dinka group, the single largest tribe.

Civilians have been massacred and dumped in mass graves, patients murdered in hospitals and churches, and entire towns flattened as urban centres including key oil-producing hubs changed hands several times.

The most conservative estimates put the toll at 10,000 dead, although aid workers say the real figure is likely far higher.

Almost 100,000 civilians are sheltering in squalid camps inside UN bases fearing revenge attacks if they leave.

• 'Sick' leaders -

Aid group Oxfam said South Sudan was "currently Africa's worst crisis with nearly 4 million -- a third of the country's population -- at risk of severe hunger and an aid effort that has only so far reached half of those in need".

"The world's attention is elsewhere as Africa's worst humanitarian catastrophe descends into more misery. We will be staring into the abyss and fail to avert a famine if funds do not start arriving soon to help the people of South Sudan at risk of starvation, disease and violence," said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

"If the aid effort does not increase 50,000 children could die from malnutrition. Since the current crisis began in December last year fighting has forced 1.5 million people from their homes and numbers continue to rise."

On the eve of the anniversary, the departing UN representative in the country issued a scathing attack on the country's leaders, calling them a "self-serving elite" responsible for a looming "man-made famine".

"Thousands and thousands have been killed," said Hilde Johnson of the UN mission in South Sudan, lashing out at both the government and rebels, warning that one of world's least developed nations has "been set back decades".

Leaders were sick with "the cancer of corruption" with the country's billions of dollars worth of oil "a curse rather than a blessing", she said.

Peace talks in luxury hotels in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa have made little progress and last month they halted indefinitely, with both sides refusing to attend the discussions.

"If there are further delays, and the blame games go on, whether from those wanting to remain in office or those wanting to get back in, we can draw only one conclusion; that this is only about a scramble for power," Johnson added.

ayv/sas/pjm/gk

© 1994-2014 Agence France-Presse

The Sudan Consortium works with a trusted group of local Sudanese partners who have been working on the ground in Southern Kordofan since the current conflict began in late 2011. All the attacks referred to in this report were launched against areas where there was no military presence and which were clearly identifiable as civilian in character. We believe that this information provides strong circumstantial evidence that civilians are being directly and deliberately targeted by the Sudanese armed forces in Southern Kordofan.

The Government of Sudan’s (GoS) military offensive against opposition forces of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Southern Kordofan reached a new level of intensity during June, provoking increased concern over the fate of civilians in those areas.

Between 1 and 22 June, monitors on the ground recorded a total of 1,062 bombs2 and 1,229 artillery/rocket shells landing on or near civilian settlements in Southern Kordofan during the course of 82 separate attacks. This represents the highest number of attacks directed against the civilian population in Southern Kordofan since the conflict began in 2011.

Additionally, on 16 June, Sudanese government aircraft bombed a hospital run by the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). This follows a similar attack on the Mother of Mercy Hospital in South Kordofan at the beginning of May, an attack which was widely condemned by the international community.3 These repeated attacks on clearly marked medical facilities indicate that, at the very least, the Sudanese government is failing to take all feasible precautions to ensure that its attacks do not violate the protected status of these facilities under international humanitarian law. A more straightforward interpretation of the observed facts on the ground is that the hospitals are being deliberately targeted.

Human rights monitors in Southern Kordofan are also reporting increased concerns over the actions of Sudanese government ground forces, and in particular the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
Witnesses interviewed by the Sudan Consortium’s partners on the ground, allege that in recent weeks the RSF have been responsible for abduction, rape and extrajudicial killings of civilians as they advance into areas of Southern Kordofan previously under opposition control.

Juba, 9 July 2014: “I would like to congratulate South Sudan and all its people on the third anniversary of the Independence of this new nation. Today is a day for both the celebration of South Sudan’s hard-won sovereignty and also an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be South Sudanese. While this young nation celebrates today we acknowledge with regret the many South Sudanese facing extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

As a humanitarian community, we take this opportunity to salute the people of South Sudan who are at the forefront of grassroots humanitarian action, providing assistance, friendship and compassion within and across their communities. These are the real humanitarian heroes who are helping so many to cope with the myriad risks that characterize life in South Sudan. We salute the health workers, field extension agents, Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) staff and the many others who have remained in their positions, often working without salaries and support, in order to provide care to so many in need. We urge the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to restore budgets to these core functions – including for workers still in their positions in Opposition held territory.

The humanitarian community – both South Sudanese and international partners – remains in solidarity with all South Sudanese, regardless of whichever side of the divide they find themselves today. We continue to do our utmost to provide assistance to those in need by the same principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence that guided humanitarian assistance around the world, including in South Sudan, for decades.

We appeal to both the Government of South Sudan and the Opposition to ensure an enabling environment for the safe and effective delivery of humanitarian assistance. We welcome the high-level statements from both regarding the need for humanitarian assistance to be provided to all who suffer, and call on all political and military leaders to show their commitment to their people by allowing humanitarian organizations to urgently reach those in need.”

For more information, contact: Tapiwa Gomo, Head of Communication, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan (gomo@un.org / +211 922406079)

Amanda Weyler, Public Information and Reporting Officer, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in South Sudan (weylera@un.org / +211 922473115)

Website www.unocha.org/south-sudan | Facebook UNOCHA South Sudan | Twitter @OCHASouthSudan

The Blood storage center expected to accommodate more than 1 thousand mount of liters of blood from donors was constructed with funding from the Global fund and other development partners.

It was inaugurated by President Salva Kiir. The President also laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Dr. John Garang Diagnostic and Medical Center.

President Kiir says the facility will handle medical procedures that would previously require patients to travel abroad.

President Salva Kiir: “As we move forward along the path of providing services to our people, let us remember and bear in our hearts and our minds that there are millions of people in villages across the country who are in need of health services. They must not be disadvantaged compared to the urban compatriot. You should put the people first, guarantee them longer and healthier lives and avoid the options whereby millions of pounds are squandered on referring patients abroad for lack of local facilities.”

According to statistics the government spends about 200 million dollars annually for overseas treatment.

By James Deng Dimo

July 8, 2014 (WAU) – The health minister in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal state, Isaac Clerto, has launched a campaign aimed at eradicating fistula, a pandemic condition which occurs as a result of complications during childbirth.

He said the construction of a new women’s ward will help in the diagnosis and treatment of fistula.

“Since we have open[ed] up [a] women’s ward, we have also set up [an] obstetric fistula treatment campaign aim[ed] at eradicating fistula infection to restore South Sudanese women’s dignity,” he said during a visit to the ward on Tuesday.

Fistula develops during prolonged or obstructed labour when the baby’s head puts pressure on the lining of the birth canal and eventually rips through the wall of the rectum and bladder.

Women in developing countries who experience obstructed labour will often spend days in excruciating agony before their baby is finally born. In most cases the baby will die and if the woman survives she will be left with devastating internal injuries.

The condition results in chronic urinary or faecal incontinence, with sufferers often shunned by their families and communities.

Clerto has warned parents not to marry their daughters off before they have reached maturity, saying underage girls were particularly susceptible to complications during labour such as fistula.

He said women with fistula often become socially isolated and suffer severe psychological trauma as a result of losing their status and dignity in their communities.

Patricia Baptist, a registered nurse at Wau teaching hospital who is in charge of the fistula ward, said that poor women are far more likely to die in childbirth, with pregnancy-related complications among the leading causes of death and disability in women under the reproductive age.

She says the hospital has successfully performed 50 operations and called on other South Sudanese women who may be suffering from fistula to seek treatment.

It is estimated that more than 60,000 South Sudanese women suffer from obstetric fistula, a preventable condition that has been almost entirely eradicated in the developed world where access to emergency obstetric care is widely available.

Grinding poverty, lack of health care and the low status of women and girls in developing countries is cited as the root causes for fistula.

Of the estimated one million women who suffer from obstetric fistula worldwide, less than 20,000 will receive treatment each year.

(ST)

INTRODUCTION

Despite decades of emergency food aid and, more recently, non-emergency food aid and development assistance programming in South Sudan, child malnutrition remains a persistent challenge. Data from the Sudan Household Health Survey in 2010 estimate that one in four children under five in South Sudan are stunted, one in five are wasted, and one in three are underweight.1 Further, measures at the household level show that nearly 17% of households are affected by stunting, 12% by wasting, and 14.3% by underweight.1 Decades of civil conflict and periods of prolonged drought compound the challenges of food assistance, and as conflict continues there is a growing need for effective food assistance strategies in transitional, highly food insecure contexts like South Sudan.

The recently concluded South Sudanese Health, Nutrition, and Empowerment (SSHiNE) program was the first multi-year assistance program (MYAP) in South Sudan. Implemented by the Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), Concern Worldwide, Food for the Hungry, and Malaria Consortium, SSHiNE included supplementary ration provision following the “Prevention of Malnutrition in Children Under 2 Approach” (PM2A) in select areas of Northern Bahr-el-Gazal and Warrap states

Highlights:

• Late and irregular rains in March and April affected the 2014 main cropping season in most countries

• Beneficial rains in May improved production prospects in Ethiopia and South Sudan

• Early depletion of grazing resources in most pastoral and agro-pastoral areas following moisture deficits

Summary

Violence has spread quickly throughout South Sudan since the outbreak of civil war on 15 December 2013, when tensions flared within the army in events the government has called an attempted coup. Other armed groups have joined the conflict, as what began as a struggle between two leaders has become a vehicle for people to express complex political, social and economic grievances.

More than a million people, or around one in ten of the country’s population, have been internally displaced and more than 390,000 have fled the country (OCHA, June 2014). Attention and assistance has focused on the 95,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in the UN peacekeeping mission’s military bases (UNMISS, June 2014), but 90 per cent of those fleeing their homes have taken refuge elsewhere, and have little access to protection, services or humanitarian aid.

Displacement in the country is primarily a protection concern, and extends far beyond the material needs of the newly displaced for food, water, shelter and non-food items. What is now South Sudan has a long history of underdevelopment and conflict, and the multiple causes of displacement make for complex dynamics that frequently overlap. Some key drivers, however, can be identified in escalating armed conflict, recurrent natural hazards and considerable development challenges, which are all further complicated by a lack of inclusive governance and socio-economic marginalisation.

The capacity and willingness of government and opposition forces to protect civilians is questionable, given that both parties have committed grave abuses against them (protection cluster, May 2014). It has largely fallen to the international community to protect and assist IDPs, but many humanitarians and their donors have been caught off guard by the scale of the crisis and have not been able to respond immediately and effectively.

In February 2014, the UN declared the situation in South Sudan a level-three emergency, the most serious possible. Despite this, the response continues to be hampered by insecurity, logistical constraints, the looting of aid supplies, the harassment of aid workers, bureaucratic obstacles and uncertainty about funding.

Summary

As the third anniversary of South Sudan’s independence approaches and as the three-year conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile continues, the situation in Sudan remains deeply worrying. There is on-going fighting between non-state armed groups and the government (including aerial bombardment), inter-communal violence and tensions over land and other resources. The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) rose in early 2014 due to an escalation of military campaigns in South Kordofan and inter-communal violence in the Darfur region. As of December 2013, there were an estimated 2,426,700 IDPs in government- and opposition-held areas of Sudan, predominantly in Darfur and the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile but also in other areas. In addition, floods also displaced thousands of people in 15 states in 2013.

The UN has estimated that 6.1 million people – 17 per cent of Sudan’s population – require some form of humanitarian assistance in addition to development aid in 2014 (OCHA, June 2014). Among the most vulnerable of this population, IDPs have tremendous needs and are victims of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.

The Government of Sudan’s approach to addressing the needs of IDPs in areas under its control has been piecemeal. Restrictions on access to certain areas in Darfur and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and on the activities of national and international humanitarian actors continue to have dire consequences for affected communities, making prospects of achieving durable solutions to displacement remote. The launch in April 2014 of the second stage of the government’s “Decisive Summer” campaign to crush opposition armed groups is already causing further displacement and could cause further deterioration in an already dire humanitarian situation (Sudan Tribune, April 2014; OCHA, May 2014).

With humanitarian attention focused on massive displacement crises in the neighbouring states of South Sudan and the Central African Republic, lack of international attention to Sudan’s equally grave internal displacement crisis and on-going conflicts has resulted in an inadequate funding response. Thus the immediate and long-term needs of IDPs are not being addressed by either the national authorities or the international community.

Sophia is a mother of four who fled to South Sudan after intense fighting in Sudan in 2011, abandoning her belongings behind. She seeked refuge in Gendrassa refugee camp, Upper Nile State.

Sophia graduated from a three month tailoring and business management course at ACTED’s Vocational Training Centre, supported by the Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration. Then, she received a grant of $100 from ACTED to launch her tailoring business.

One month later, Sophia’s workshop is already making a profit and she is using her earnings to not only support her family, but also to re-invest in her business. Hardly able to contain her smile, Sophia said:

“The skills I received are assisting me and my colleagues. With the money I make in my workshop I am able to buy coffee and sugar for my home, as well as purchase more materials to expand my workshop. I hope the market for clothes [in Gendrassa] improves so that I can continue to make more profit”.

IOM Regional Response to South Sudan Crisis, External Sitrep 27 June - 6 July 2014