The international community took a significant step towards alleviating the crisis in Sudan, pledging $2.1 billion in humanitarian aid announced at the Paris Summit held on 15 April. This funding, which comes on the first anniversary of the conflict, will provide much-needed relief to an estimated 24 million people facing hunger, displacement, and lack of access to healthcare and necessities.
Sara Almer, Humanitarian Director at ActionAid International, said:
“We welcome the pledges as a critical step towards addressing the dire humanitarian crisis in Sudan. However, the road to recovery remains long. Continued international efforts are urgently needed to secure a lasting ceasefire and ensure that the $2.7 billion needed is secured to avert famine.”
The ongoing conflict in Sudan has displaced millions and disrupted agricultural production, pushing the country to the brink of famine. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the last main cereal production was less than half (46 percent below), the harvests of the previous year due to the impact of the conflict. The pledged aid will provide life-saving food assistance, clean water, and medical care to those most in need. However, a sustained ceasefire is crucial to ensure safe and unimpeded access for humanitarian workers and to allow communities to rebuild their lives.
Salwa Elsadik, the Director of Women Advocacy and Development Initiative, a local Sudanese organization, said:
“The pledges are a positive step towards addressing the humanitarian situation in Sudan, I hope that mechanisms will be put in place to ensure unhindered access to aid by those in desperate need. Our priority must now be a ceasefire to facilitate delivery of aid and put an end to violence and abuses, especially against women and girls.”
Sara Almer added:
“With continued international support, local and national initiatives protecting and assisting communities, particularly those led by women and young people, Sudan can overcome this crisis and build a brighter future for its people.”
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About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty.
Notes to the Editor (ActionAid’s Response in Sudan)
- ActionAid’s response is being implemented in the Matema border area of Ethiopia by ActionAid Ethiopia, in Sennar region of Sudan by Women Relief Aid (WRA) and in Juba regions (Wetweil Camp, Wau and Goromo) by Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) and WRA.
- Through a women-led community-based protection approach, ActionAid and partners are supporting the leadership of conflict-affected women in Sudan and South Sudan, strengthening protection referral mechanisms by linking women groups with the GBV subsector and responders as well as providing refresher training to GBV focal persons and volunteer community health workers.
- To ensure accountable and community-centered responses, ActionAid is supporting its partners through its own Disaster Preparedness and Response Fund (DPRF) small scale to strengthen their accountability mechanisms, promote the Core Humanitarian Standards, SHEA, and Safeguarding standards, and sustain their engagements with the Humanitarian clusters in the different camps and states.
- ActionAid Ethiopia, through funding from DPRF, have focused their response in the Matema region, which is a border region with Sudan, targeting refugees and returnees crossing the border into Ethiopia. The Response has covered WASH interventions; Emergency Shelter & NFI; Protection Services (mainstreaming, psychosocial support, dignity kit distributions) and Emergency Cash Support.
- With ActionAid’s support, WRA is among the first women-led national NGOs to operate in Wetweil Camp, South Sudan. WRA’s focus is mainly on the needs of women and girls, protecting refugees, including GBV prevention and response in Wetweil camp.
- In January 2024 WRA, with ActionAid’s support, has supported over 500 people. This includes 297 men, women and children participating in a safety audit exercise, 57 men and women were included in community discussions addressing GBV.
- Our partner, Women Advocacy and Development Initiative (WADI) is working with the Sudanese Family Planning Organization and Health Authority of Sennar State to create awareness on GBV and SGBV. They are also training women on advocacy, which empowers them to lead on identifying appropriate interventions for their needs and longer-term recovery from the conflict.
- ActionAid is also partnering with(YWCA),who are targeting 5,000 people, including returnees from Sudan and now living in the Wau and Goromo regions. Their work is on GBV awareness, linking women and girls to support services, training staff and partners on GBV case management and Psychological First Aid (PFA). They also offer GBV case management services, including clinical management of rape, and psychosocial support at individual, group, and community levels.
- ActionAid continues to join advocacy actions with other women and young people movements in the region, including through our membership in the InterAgency Working Group for East and Central (IAWG).