Assisting Vulnerable Conflict Affected Communities in South Darfur
Funded by USAID/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
Semi-Annual Report: April 1, 2019 – September 30, 2019
1 Abbreviations:
CLTS: Community-Led Total Sanitation
EJM: East Jebel Marra
FSL: Food Security and Livelihoods
HAC: Humanitarian Aid Commission of Sudan
IDP: Internally Displaced Person
IOM: International Organization for Migration
IYCF: Infant and Young Child Feeding
MAM: Moderate Acute Malnutrition
MUAC: Mid-Upper Arm Circumference
MoH: Ministry of Health of Sudan
NISS: National Intelligence and Security Service of Sudan
OCHA: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
SAM: Severe Acute Malnutrition
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army – Adel Wahid (SPLM-AW)
UNAMID: United Nations - African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur
WASH: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
WES: Water and Environmental Sanitation Department
2 1. Program Overview:
The ‘Assisting Vulnerable Conflict Affected Communities in South Darfur’ program began on September 16, 2018. The project goal is to respond to the emergency lifesaving WASH, food security, nutrition, and livelihood needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and conflict-affected host communities in East Jebel Marra, Beliel, Nyala, and Nyala North localities in South Darfur State, Sudan. Overall the project will support 155,710 individuals including 78,776 protracted IDPs and 40,203 returnees.
The project activities include the rehabilitation of 17 non-functional hand pumps, and the upgrade of five functional hand pumps into hybrid dual power solar systems, including two elevated water tanks and four water distribution points. The water infrastructure activities will be complemented through hygiene promotion, including the training of 141 female community volunteers who will carry out community awareness raising activities in their community. Given the high population density, the almost non- existent sanitation system, and the need to reduce open defecation, Mercy Corps is supporting the communities to construct latrines through the Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach.
To support IDP and returnee farmers to improve their agricultural production, Mercy Corps is carrying out a one-off seed and agricultural tools distribution to 6,969 households. Mercy Corps will complement these activities with a one-off livestock distribution of goats to 290 extremely vulnerable households.
Under this grant, Mercy Corps has expanded into nutrition in Jawa and Sony in East Jebel Marra (EJM) locality. Mercy Corps is implementing a community based nutrition program that aims to improve the infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices of communities in both clusters using a care group model targeting 12,025 beneficiaries. Mercy Corps is working with the relevant stakeholders to develop a referral mechanism to enable children experiencing acute malnutrition to access necessary treatment and support. In addition, two nutrition centers in both administrative units are being rehabilitated under the project. Mercy Corps will complement these activities with targeted distribution of restricted vouchers that 290 extremely vulnerable households can exchange for locally available nutritious foods at predetermined vendors. These households will be the same ones targeted for the livestock intervention. 2. Context
Security situation:
National Level:
The deteriorating economic situation has also contributed to rising political instability. On the 19th of December 2018, protests broke out in Atbara City in River Nile State over economic concerns, including price rises, liquidity issues, and the scarcity of essential supplies such as fuel and bread. The protests subsequently spread to several states across Sudan, and by mid-January, protests were occurring in 15 of
3 Sudan’s 18 states, including Khartoum. The demands of the protesters evolved from economic concerns to demands for the resignation of the current regime. On the 23 February 2019, President Omar Al-Bashir declared a national state of emergency and absolved the state and national governments.
On 6 April 2019, the continued protests led to a ‘sit-in’ outside the army headquarters with thousands gathering to call for the step-down of President Bashir and the current regime. The sit-in saw the exchange of live fire between various elements of the security forces as the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) moved to disperse the protesters and some military forces moved to protect them. It is estimated that more than 50 protesters were killed by the security forces.1
The continued protests culminated in a military coup on 11 April 2019 in which President Bashir was deposed. A military council leader by Ibn Auf, the former Defence Minister, was announced. However, Auf stepped down after less than 24 hours in the role following widespread protests demanding a civil lead transition. Ibn Auf was replaced by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who is currently leading the military transitional council. The military have vowed to transition power to a civilian led authority within a maximum period of two years. However, the protests have continued as the Sudan Professional Association (grassroots organisers of the protests) called for an immediate transition to civil rule. While the military council vowed to uproot the former military regime and moved to make concessions to the protesters, including the reported transfer of Bashir to prison, it is unclear if this will assuage the protesters who continue to call for civilian rule.
The recent political events in Khartoum have impacted the security situation in South Darfur State. On 15 April 2019, violent clashes were reported at Kalma IDP camp in which the United Nations - African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) reported 13 people were killed. The security situation in the camp currently remains calm, but tensions remain high among IDPs. In Mershing in East Jebel Marra, UNAMID reported that a large number of people marched towards the NISS office in town. While no injuries occurred, stolen and/or damaged properties were reported, NISS officers were redeployed to Nyala, and the NISS office in Mershing was closed. As the political process continues to unfold in Khartoum, with continued uncertainty around if non-state armed actors will respond. There is also uncertainty on whether the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the police can deter a rise in criminality, especially in rural areas across Darfur.
Conflict in East Jebel Marra:
While the security situation across South Darfur State is improving, the security situation in East Jebel Marra locality remains fragile. According to reports from OCHA, the government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s February 24, 2019 report, an estimated 2,200 people (approximately 440 families) arrived in Otash IDP Camp in Nyala town, South Darfur between 13 December 2018 and 7 January 2019 from East Jebel Marra locality. These households
1 HCT Plus-Information. Update from the DHC in Darfur, 15 April 2019.
4 were displaced by fighting between the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army – Adel Wahid (SPLM-AW) and government forces in East Jebel Marra. The state of emergency and ban of 4x4 vehicles and motorbikes continues to remain in place.
The security situation continued to improve across South Darfur State with exception of East Jabal Marra (EJM) locality, where intermittent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) faction, as well as infighting within the rebel group, continued (UN report, 10th April 2019). During the reporting period, the looting of livestock was recorded on the 2nd of August in the Beleelserif Administration Unit in EJM that resulted in 3 fatalities. In addition, gold clashes broke out in the gold mines between the military and the miners on the 30th of September 2019 in Kidineer Village resulting in 2 fatalities.
The improving security has facilitated access and the implementation of planned WASH activities in Marla Village in Belil Locality, and Deribat, Jawa, and Sony villages in East Jabal Marra locality. HAC is continuing to process the approval of the travel permission for Mercy Corps staff to access the operation areas.
Macroeconomic and political shocks:
Since June 2019, inflation has decreased 53.1% compared to 2018 when it was 72.94%. Despite the decrease in inflation, it is continuing to fluctuate and it is unclear if it will increase again. Sudan requires hard currency to import food, refined fuel, and purchase many commodities required for daily life. Sudan’s supply of hard currency is very low, leading to a combination of high prices for imports and shortages of many key commodities. This has led to a reduction in household purchasing power, which is impacting the most vulnerable and negating many of the gains made in improving security. The number of food insecure persons has risen. According to OCHA, nearly 5.7 million were estimated to be in crisis (IPC 3) or emergency (IPC 4) levels of food insecurity from October to December 2018 which is up from 3.8 million for the same period in the previous year.2 This number is expected to increase to nearly 5.8 million during the lean season when food prices normally peak.
3. Program Implementation
3.1 Overview
In the WASH sector, support thus far has included training community members in community-led total sanitation (CLTS) leading to the construction of 289 latrines. WASH associations in Sakaly, El Serif and Dereige IDP camps have maintained and operated 16 water sources; and trained female volunteers have conducted over 400 house visits to distribute water containers and soap to promote hygienic behavior. Additionally, 20 cleaning campaigns have been launched to manage solid waste.
2 OCHA. SHF First Standard Allocation Paper 2019.
5 In the agriculture/food security sector, nearly 7,000 participants have been registered for seed and supply distribution, and 300 households have been registered to receive livestock and nutrition vouchers with priority given to pregnant women with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) or lactating mothers with children under five years experiencing MAM or severe acute malnutrition.
3.2 Summary per Sector
Sector 1: WASH Subsector 1.1. Water Supply Infrastructure
During the reporting period, Mercy Corps continued to monitor the implementation of the WaSH activities by the trained WASH associations trained under the previous OFDA grant in El Serif, Dereige and Sakaly IDP camps. The WASH associations have been operating and maintaining 16 hybrid solar powered systems and six hand pumps in the three camps.
In East Jabal Marra, Mercy Corps has rehabilitated six hand pumps (2 HPs in Faina, 1HPs in Abuhariara,1 HPs in Sokai, 1 HPs in Taria, and 1 HPs in Derbat villages) benefiting 3,000 people. Mercy Corps has carried out two successful pumping tests (yield more than 5 cubic meters per hour) of the existing hand pumps in Dashisha village in Beliel locality and Fina village in EJM. Based on current and the previous successful pumping results, Mercy Corps constructed three solar water pumping systems including (one in Marla, one in Abudegais, and one in Hamid Elrehaid village) in Marla clusters in Belil locality and the upgrade of five existing hand pumps into solar are ongoing.
Mercy Corps national partner Alshrooq for Social and Cultural Development has established and trained 27 WASH committees consisting of 270 people (181 male, and 89 female). Ten committees in the Marla Village cluster formed (Abodigas, Algadaref, Doldol, Altaif, Dashisha, Alsadalali, Tibikha, Altobon, Tabaldina and Hamamid villages) in Belil locality and 17 committees formed (Toldo Diri, Wala, Nwoo, Soni Shamal, Sortanga Nowa, Kiri, Bororo, Dogli, Solmang, Soni Ghareb, Soni Gonob, Korga, Tari, Soni Wast, and Sokow villages) in EJM locality. Each WASH committee has 10 members including five men and five women. The training topics are as follows: community-based operating and maintenance of water sources, water fee collection, financial management, meeting facilitation, roles and responsibilities of WASH committees, book keeping, water quality testing, and sanitation and hygiene promotion. Furthermore, 54 male youth were trained by Mercy Corps national Alshuroog on hand pump rehabilitation and repair in Marla clusters in Belil locality and EJM locality and three hand pump toolkits were distributed, one in Marla clusters and two in EJM.
Water quality:
Mercy Corps carried out 192 bacteriological tests on water samples from the 16 rehabilitated hand pumps in the Marla village cluster. The results of the test indicated that 180/192 samples were free from bacteria, and only 12 water samples were contaminated with fecal coliform. Mercy Corps carried out a sanitary
6 survey and mobilized water users to clean the area surrounding the water sources to remove the contaminants and disinfected the contaminated hand pumps with chlorine to kill the bacteria.
Subsector 1.2. Sanitation Infrastructure
During the reporting period, Mercy Corps national partner Alshuroog trained 140 (83 female and, 57 male) community volunteers on CLTS approach. The trained CLTS community volunteers sensitized the communities to construct their own latrines to prevent open defecation practices. Mercy Corps organized regular field trips to the sites to monitor the progress in construction household latrines. A total of 2,118 latrines have been constructed, including 1,918 latrines (86 Suko, 95 in Nouwa, 69 in Sugy, 81 in Saw fuco, 23 in Morga, 36 in Now, 95 in Toldo- Gharib, 110 in Toldo-gharig, 49 in Som Debi, 200 in Sony Sharig, 190 in Sony Wasat, 321 in Sony Shimal, 253 in Sony Gharib, and 310 in Sony Janoub villages) in East Jabal Marra locality and 200 latrines (25 in Hamamid, 30 in tabaldiana, 47 in Alsadelaali, 24 in Altaboun, 23 in Neiabaga, and 51 in Algadarif villages) in Marla clusters in Belil locality. In addition to that, 10 villages were certified ODF out of the targeted 47 villages in the Marla cluster. Currently Mercy Corps works with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in South Darfur State to carry out CLTS/ODF verification in 11 villages in EJM. On the other hand, the trained community volunteers continued to sensitize the communities in the remaining villages in EJM.
Subsector 1.3. Environmental Health
During this reporting period, Mercy Corps supported the trained WASH committees with 13 sets of cleaning tools. Each set contained (26 wheelbarrows, 104 locally made baskets, 130 local brooms, and 78 rakes in EJM clusters to carry out regular solid waste management campaigns in 35 targeted villages including (ten in Marla clusters, 9 in Derbat, and 16 in Soni). A total of 204 cleaning campaigns were conducted, 60 campaigns in: 12 in Dashesha, 12 in Duldul, 12 in Abudegais, 12 in Algadarif, and 12 in Altaif villages, in Marla clusters, and 144 campaigns: 12 in Suko, 12 in Nouwa, 12 in Sugy, 12 in Saw Fuco, 12 in Morga, 12 in Now, 12 in Toldo- Gharib, 12 in Toldo-gharib, 12 in Som debi, 12 in Sony Sharig, 12 in Sony Wasat, 12 in Sony Shimal, 12 in Sony gharib, 12 in Sony Janoub villages) in East Jebel Marra. The collected waste disposed and treated at the final disposal sites.
Subsector 1.4. Hygiene Promotion
During this reporting period, Mercy Corps continued to encourage the WASH associations and WASH committees to undertake community hygiene promotion activities among IDPs, returnees, and host communities. Mercy Corps national partner Alshuroog trained 501 community volunteers (452 women, and 56 men) on the Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) in Belil and EJM localities.
The trained community volunteers conducted hygiene promotion campaigns to improve household practices through home to home visits and community sensitization at water collection points to promote water handling and store practices benefited 18,720 individuals in Marla clusters in Belil locality. In
7 addition, Mercy Corps distributed 900 water collection containers (Jerry cans) with a 20L capacity, to 900 households (one container per each household) and 21,450 bars of soap (10 bars of soap per each household) to 2,145 households in East Jebel Mara clusters.
Sector 2: Agriculture and Food Security
Subsector 2.1. Improving Agriculture Production/Food Security
During this reporting period, Mercy Corps, in collaboration with ministry of Agriculture, community seed distribution committees and community leaders distributed seeds through a value voucher to 6,969 farmers including (2,469 people in Marla clusters in Belil locality and 4,500 people in East Jebel Marra locality). The distributed seeds include millet 3Kg, okra 50G, water melon 50G, tomatoes 20G, and sorghum 5Kg per voucher per person in East Jebel Marra locality and millet 3Kg, okra 50G, water melon 50G, sorghum 5Kg, and ground nut 10Kg per voucher per person in Marla clusters in Belil locality. The value of one voucher is 816.67 SDG per person in East Jebel Marra, and 1,100.67 SDG per person in the Marla clusters in Belil locality. In addition, Mercy Corps distributed 4,646 agricultural hand tools which include (2,323 rakes and 2,323 hoes) for the same farmers in the targeted locations. Mercy Corps has distributed 1,646 hand tools (823 rakes and 823 hoes) to 2,469 framers in Marla clusters in Belil locality and 300 hand tools (1500 rakes, and 1500 hoe) for 2500 framers in Deribat, Jawa, and Sony clusters) in East Jebel Marra locality.
Mercy Corps carried out post distribution monitoring after distribution of seeds to identify quality of seed implementation, issues security regarding their arrival to distribution point, to discuss the selection criteria with beneficiaries to enhance the selection process in the future programming.
Subsector 2.2. Livestock
During this reporting period, Mercy Corps has identified a goat supplier and the distribution of goats will take place in the second week of October 2019.
Sector 3: Nutrition
Subsector 3.1. Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies
During the reporting period, Mercy Corps distributed nutritious food through vouchers to 290 mothers who met the selection criteria of pregnant women with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) or lactating mothers with children under five years experiencing MAM or severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The distributed nutritious foods include (sugar 18Kg, oil 9L, sorghum 28.8Kg, iodine slat 3.6Kg, beef meat 1.8Kg, powder milk 1.7Kg and Cereal 7.2Kg) with a voucher value of 5,654.1 SDG, equivalent to 118.5 USD per person for a three month period in Sony and Jawa villages in East Jebel Marra.
Subsector 3.2. Management of Acute Malnutrition
8 During this reporting period, Mercy Corps trained 8 participants (five female, and three male) - two persons from Sony, two persons from Jawa, one from Derbat, one from Leiba villages in EJM and two people from the South Darfur Ministry of Health on Infant and Young Child feeding (ICYCF) at Mercy Corps’ office in Nyala for five days from September 17 to September 21, 2019. The training topics included, nutrition practices for pregnant and lactating mothers, intake of iodine and folic acid, prevention of malaria, attendance at ante-natal appointments during pregnancy, exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding positions, optimal hygiene practices, complimentary feeding and diet diversity.
Additionally, six children (2 boys and 4 girls) with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) cases from Jawa village in EJM were referred to a WHO clinic in Lieba village in EJM. Out of the six children five fully recovered and one girl passed. Furthermore, rehabilitation of two existing nutrition centers is ongoing in Jawa and Sony villages in EJM.
4. Challenges and Adaptations
Economic situation: The inflation, rising prices, and liquidity crises have led to delays in securing program materials. Mercy Corps has observed an increasing pattern of vendors and service providers cancelling contracts due to almost daily changes in prices. This has led to a delay in Mercy Corps sourcing the materials required for the construction of the solar powered water systems.
Instability: While the security situation is largely improving across South Darfur State, the outbreaks of violence in East Jebel Mara mean that Mercy Corps sometimes experiences delays in obtaining travel permits. Mercy Corps is continuing to engage with HAC and the security services around improved humanitarian access.
5. Lessons Learned Even though East Jabel Mara Locality is one of the most remote in South Darfur State with fragile security situation, it was proven that Vendors in Nayal are willing to provide services in East Jabel Mara if they are engaged by actors. They are willing to provide services, know the context and have the ability to deliver services. Mercy Corps was able to deliver food vouchers to 290HH with SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition) children in collaboration with vendors through a trade fare. Mercy Corps sees this as an opportunity to modify its approach of assistance delivery- from in kind distribution to Cash based service delivery in remote locations like East Jabel Mara. Cash base approaches to assistance delivery will mitigate the risk associated with delivery of in-kind assistance in locations like East Jabel Mara
6. Coordination
9 Mercy Corps continued its regular participation in the biweekly meetings in Nyala which are chaired by UNICEF in South Darfur State and the Department of Water and Environmental Sanitation Project (WES) and Sanitation and Hygiene Project. Furthermore, Mercy Corps also participated in the regular Food and Livelihood Security (FSL) meetings with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF), the Ministry of Animal Resources (MoAR) and HAC. In addition, Mercy Corps coordinates with WHO and the Health sector around its ongoing project activities.
Mercy Corps currently chairs of the INGO Forum steering committee and has been very active in leading the coordination of affairs of the INGOs with HAC. Mercy Corps in collaboration with UNOCHA has been very engaged in discussing access with HAC and South Darfur State authority especially for access in East Jabel Mara Locality.
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