Sudan: Emergency Response

Background

Announcement of DEC Darfur and Chad Crisis Appeal - May 2007

Prolonged civil strife, mass exodus of people and the abandonment of villages has profoundly disrupted the socio-economic fabric and livelihood of the inhabitants of Darfur. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced during the almost three-year-long conflict between armed forces in Sudan's remote Darfur region. According to the OCHA Humanitarian Needs Profile, the total number of affected populations in Darfur stands at almost 3.4 million* people. Children are particularly vulnerable to the violence, displacement, hunger, disease, abuse and exploitation that is rife in the conflict situation. Approximately 1.7 million* of the conflict-affected are children under the age of 18, while close to 600,000 children are under the age of five.

Continued violence prevents roughly 1.8 million* Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from retuning to their villages, and they remain reliant on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs. Further complicating the situation is the increasing insecurity throughout Darfur.

Impact on Children

Children have been displaced from their homes and are in need of shelter
Children are at risk of rape, abduction, recruitment into fighting forces, harassment and widespread violence
Children have not got adequate food, clean water, basic healthcare and education. Malnutrition rates for under fives may be as high as 33 %
Hundreds of children have been separated from their families, leaving them extremely vulnerable

Save the Children's Work in Darfur

Save the Children USA, Save the Children Sweden, and Save the Children Spain are working together - with the help of Save the Children UK and Save the Children Netherlands - on the ground to provide humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable population in Darfur. In fact, Save the Children's emergency response is the largest humanitarian program operating in West Darfur. We are the largest distributor of food aid there, providing a monthly average of 6,000 metric tons of food to approximately 400,000 beneficiaries living in IDP camps and host communities.

Other examples of Save the Children programmes in North and West Darfur include:

Ten water yards and 90 hand pumps cater to the water and sanitation needs of 80,000 people daily
Save the Children operates 71 children's centers, 21 women's centers, and nine community children/youth centers
21 health clinics cater to the health needs of 260,000 beneficiaries. All clinics have a reproductive health unit
Community-based nutrition programs support 99,000 vulnerable people
66 Save the Children - supported schools provide education for 46,000 children in North and West Darfur

Livelihoods initiatives including farming assistance, vocational training for youth, and life skills and literacy training for women

Save the Children is managing four large IDP camps in West Darfur, serving the needs of 70,800 camp residents. Camp coordination includes conflict resolution, security, and increasing management capacity of IDP leaders.

*These numbers are taken from reports by the UN and OCHA.

More About Our Work in Conflict and Disaster