YIDA [ACTED News] – Yida refugee camp in Unity State has faced ongoing challenges with regard to its fluctuating populations living in the camp. This is largely due to the proximity of the refugee camp to the border with Sudan. To assist the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the agencies working in Yida, ACTED in partnership with REACH has begun a geo-localised addressing and mapping of all current shelters in Yida refugee camp.
ACTED, REACH and UNHCR teams have been working with the traditional leaders (known as Boma Chiefs) of the respective refugee communities to take GPS coordinates and assign a unique address code to each shelter. This system will improve the ability of humanitarian agencies to track the provision of services to refugees, and improve their knowledge on the composition and positioning of the camp. The implementation of this methodology is a continuation of the pilot project that took place in Jamam refugee camp, September 2012. It is estimated that it will take approximately 2 weeks to complete the mapping of the approximated population made up of 63,000 people with over 8,000 shelters.