10,037 South Sudanese refugee and host community households who received NFI package in March
9 ‘Open area’ refugee settlements in Khartoum
90,145 Reported number of South Sudanese refugees living in ‘open areas’, as per assessment findings
NON-FOOD ITEM (NFI) DISTRIBUTION IN ‘OPEN AREAS’ COMPLETED FOR OVER 10,000 REFUGEE AND HOST COMMUNITY HOUSEHOLDS– UNHCR and the Government of Sudan’s Commission for Refugees (COR) completed the distribution of an NFI package of blankets and plastic sheeting to over 10,000 households across ‘open area’ settlements, including 8,541 refugee households (benefitting 57,346 refugees) and 1,496 of the most vulnerable host community households adjacent to settlement areas. The package will provide interim shelter assistance while inter-agency partners develop a more sustainable shelter response.
CIVIL AND BIOMETRIC REGISTRATION PROCESSES ARE UNDERWAY– UNHCR is working closely with the Government of Sudan to improve South Sudanese refugee access to documentation and identification (ID) in Khartoum through a phased registration process. The Government of Sudan’s Immigration and Passport Police (IPP) unit initiated the first phase in mid-February to verify the total number of South Sudanese refugees living in Khartoum and issue them with foreigner ID numbers.
Over 22,000 refugees have been registered by the IPP so far. The 2nd phase will be led by UNHCR and COR with biometric registration in order to support their access to protection, documentation and other assistance. Biometric registration will likely start in May and will be rolled out concurrently with the IPP process.
SUSTAINED ACCESS TO ‘OPEN AREAS’ CONFIRMED BY COR– COR has confirmed that UN, INGO and NGO response partners will have sustained access to all ‘open areas’ to deliver assistance and complete assessments, as needed. This follows the completion of the inter-agency needs assessment of the ‘open areas’ in December 2017. Findings indicated significant protection, livelihoods, shelter and NFI needs, with health and education service gaps.
Response recommendations were identified at a finalization workshop in March 2018. Partners are now moving forward to develop a response plan and mobilize resources to begin delivering humanitarian assistance.
South Sudanese refugee woman returns to her home in an ‘open area’ settlement in Khartoum after receiving her NFI package. El Naiem/ UNHCR/April 2018.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Lindsey Amèrica-Simms, Associate Reporting Officer: americas@unhcr.org LINKS UNHCR Data Portal for the South Sudan Situation: http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/country.php?id=204