Sudan

Sudan

Situation Report
Flash Update
Food distribution in Ag Geneina, April 2021 - WFP
Food distribution in Ag Geneina, April 2021 - WFP

SUDAN: Conflict - Flash Update #17 West Darfur. As of 21 April 2021

KEY POINTS

  • The security situation in Ag Geneina town is calm, with life gradually returning to normal

  • About 40,000 people were newly displaced as a result of the violence in April 2021

  • An inter-agency needs assessment mission has been completed in 51 gathering sites in Ag Geneina

  • Protection of civilians is key, with people reporting that security is the main reason they cannot return home

  • Other requirements include food, shelter and WASH

  • Humanitarian organizations are scaling up operations, replenishing stock, and deploying more staff

  • About 60,300 people have received one-month food rations; about half of health facilities serving gathering points resumed operations

SITUATION

The situation in Ag Geneina town, West Darfur State is calm, with life gradually returning to normal. There are tensions, however, that require long-term peacebuilding and community reconciliation. The power and water networks are back to normal in the town. UNHAS resumed flights to Ag Geneina on 21 April.

On 19 April, 60 aid workers in 14 teams carried out an inter-agency needs assessment in 51 gathering sites (47 sites with new IDPs and four sites with previously displaced people) in Ag Geneina that were reported as having newly displaced people by the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC). Each team include at least a woman. According to HAC, following these latest clashes there are 13 new gathering sites bringing the total to 97. Some 34 of the existing sites, that were already overcrowded, are now sheltering more people following the violence at the start of April.

According to the preliminary findings of the assessment, protection is the top priority, with concerns about physical security and safety featuring high in most of the sites visited. Despite the improvement of the general security situation, 85 per cent of the interviewed displaced people said that their movements were limited. The priority needs of the new IDPs are protection (including support for survivors of gender-based violence), food, non-food items, shelter, water, and education. 

Meanwhile, humanitarian organisations continue scaling up operations and response. The distribution of one-month emergency food rations started in Ag Geneina on 18 April. By 21 April, about 60,300 people received sorghum, pulses, oil and salt (543 metric tonnes of food) across seven sites. In addition, at least 14 of the 27 health facilities supporting affected people resumed activities in Ag Geneina town. More than 10,000 dignity kits were procured and delivered to Ag Geneina. Six tents were erected as temporary shelters for women and girls to support gender-based violence-related activities.

According to IOM data, in less than four months of 2021 close to 237,00 people were displaced by conflict in Darfur, more than four times the 53,000 people who were conflict-displaced in all of 2020, creating a significant increase in new needs. Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) partners need emergency funding to effectively respond to these new needs. As of 21 April, about US$272 million of humanitarian funding has been received. This includes $177 million for the HRP 2021, which is 9 per cent of the HRP’s required amount.  

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