Since mid-April, clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have pushed an estimated one million persons out of their homes. Acted was present in Sudan from 2004 to 2014 and restarted its activities in the country in 2020 as a frontline humanitarian actor working on shelter and non-food items, water and hygiene, food security and livelihoods, nutrition, and protection for refugee children and women survivors of gender-based violence. Our teams are now mobilised to ensure the continuation of humanitarian activities and respond to the needs resulting from the conflict, despite extreme operational constraints.
More than 2.5 million persons have been displaced, seeking refuge in areas not or less directly affected by the violence. Among them, 600,000 have fled into neighbourhing countries, including in South Sudan, in Ethiopia, Chad and CAR where Acted has teams and operations. These displacements of populations, among which so many struggle to cover their basic needs and access essential services, increase the strain on host communities in which food and water insecurity is already significant (among other vulnerabilities), exacerbating severe pre-existing humanitarian needs.
As of today, the UN estimates that 24.7 million persons need humanitarian assistance in the country.
From the beginning of the clashes, Acted has been working to guarantee the safety and security of its teams and ensure the swift resumption of its activities in Sudan, as well as set-up response operations to respond to the influx of populations in border areas in South Sudan and Chad. A dedicated emergency response team is now working to scale up operations in response to the crisis and to respond to the urgent needs of affected populations despite the particularly complex and constraining operational environment.
Acted’s response plan prioritises:
- In Sudan, the continuation of activities to serve refugee population in camps and host communities.
- In Sudan, South Sudan and Chad, the set-up of emergency operations to address the needs of displaced populations (internally displaced, returnees and refugees alike), with special attention to those with specific vulnerabilities and needs such as separated children, the elderly, pregnant women or persons with disabilities.
It will focus on the following sectors:
- Water, sanitation and hygiene: provision of safe drinking water, construction and rehabilitation of sanitation facilities, distribution of hygiene and sanitation items
- Food security and livelihoods: provision of multi-purpose cash assistance, distribution of in-kind food assistance, professional training.
- Nutrition: prevention and treatment of malnutrition, creation of community gardens, provision of cooking classes for better nutrition.
- Shelter: construction of semi-permanent shelters “tukuls”, provision of emergency shelters.
- Protection support
We call on much needed support to help scale up our emergency operations in Sudan in response to the urgent needs of conflict-affected populations.
