SUDAN - COMPLEX EMERGENCY FACT SHEET #3, FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2019 AUGUST 8, 2019 NUMBERS AT USAID/OFDA1 FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS A GLANCE BY SECTOR IN FY 2018–2019 • 2% 2% The TMC and FFC initialed the 7% constitutional charter, signaling the beginning of the political transition 8.5 million 8% 31% People in Need of period in Sudan Humanitarian Assistance 15% in Sudan • An estimated 8.5 million people require UN – July 2019 humanitarian assistance, a nearly 15% 20% 50 percent increase from late 2018 1.76 million Health (31%) • The economic crisis continues to Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (20%) exacerbate food insecurity and impact IDPs in Need of Humanitarian Humanitarian Coordination & Information Management (15%) Assistance in Darfur Nutrition (15%) humanitarian operations Agriculture & Food Security (8%) UN – October 2018 Logistics Support & Relief Commodities (7%) Protection (2%) HUMANITARIAN FUNDING Other (2%) FOR THE SUDAN RESPONSE IN FY 2018–2019 235,000 * USAID/OFDA $163,819,317 IDPs in Need of Humanitarian USAID/FFP2 FUNDING Assistance in the Two Areas BY MODALITY IN FY 2018–2019 5% 1% UN – February 2018 USAID/FFP $375,114,029 72% 20% State/PRM3 $63,025,000 U.S. In-Kind Food Aid (63%) 2% Local & Regional Food Procurement (27%) 1.1 million Food Vouchers (7%) Refugees and Asylum Seekers Cash Transfers for Food (2%) Complementary Services (1%) in Sudan $545,235,846 UNHCR – June 2019 858,090 KEY DEVELOPMENTS South Sudanese Refugees • Following widespread anti-government protests, Sudanese military officials overthrew the in Sudan government of President Omar al-Bashir on April 11 and established the Transitional UNHCR – July 2019 Military Council (TMC) as Sudan’s executive authority. Since then, peaceful demonstrations have taken place across the country, at times met with violent 338,185 crackdowns from the TMC. On August 4, following mediation by the African Union Sudanese Refugees in Chad (AU) and the Government of Ethiopia (GoE), the Forces for Freedom and Change UNHCR – January 2019 (FFC) and the TMC signed a constitutional declaration laying out the arrangements for the transitional period that will last for 39 months. • Food security outcomes will likely deteriorate across Sudan through September during 275,891 the annual May-to-September lean season and intensified by the ongoing economic crisis. Sudanese Refugees in Expected above-average June–September seasonal rainfall, however, may lead to South Sudan UNHCR – June 2019 improvements in food security conditions starting in October, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). * Armed actors report that up to an additional 545,000 IDPs reside in parts 1 USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) of the Two Areas under their control. 2 USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) 3 U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (State/PRM). State/PRM funding includes assistance to refugees residing in Sudan, which is also reported in the South Sudan fact sheet as part of the South Sudan regional response. 1 CURRENT EVENTS • Widespread anti-government protests and violence against demonstrators in Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum and other areas of the country persisted following the April 11 removal of President al-Bashir and subsequent installation of the TMC. On June 3, security forces broke up the peaceful sit-in in Khartoum, resulting in more than 100 deaths and 700 injuries, international media report. There were also many reports of gender-based violence. For more than one month following the June 3 violence, a nationwide disruption of internet services—compounded with an unreliable phone network and delays in administrative approvals for humanitarian movements and programs— negatively affected relief operations, the UN reports. After mediation by the AU and the GoE, on August 4, the TMC and FFC agreed to a constitutional document that outlines the governance set up during the 39 month transitional period. However, the ongoing economic crisis in the country continues with a large percentage of the population unable to meet the cost of the basic food basket. The situation is now compounded by the heavy rainy season which is causing flooding and destruction of homes in rural areas, cutting off main and secondary roads and rendering movement to humanitarian project sites difficult and dangerous. • The UN released a July–December prioritization document for the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Sudan on July 22. The HRP prioritization plan estimates that 8.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, a nearly 50 percent increase from the 5.7 million people estimated to be in need in late 2018. The plan aims to assist 4.4 million people, highlighting food insecurity and multi-sector assistance for refugees as critical needs. The UN is requesting an additional $150 million in funding, beyond current and expected HRP contributions. To date, donors have provided nearly $340 million, or nearly 30 percent, of the original $1.2 billion 2019 HRP request, according to the UN. INSECURITY AND DISPLACEMENT • There has been an increase in intercommunal violence in recent months in the Darfur Region, with many of the confrontations linked to farmers attempting to access land for farming and being prevented from doing so by armed pastoralists. From June 3–6, tensions in East Darfur State resulted in seven deaths and 35 injuries, and displaced an estimated 4,000 people to the state’s Ed Daein town. Additionally, from June 20–July 4, the UN recorded seven separate incidents of pastoralists assaulting or threatening internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Central Darfur and North Darfur states. At least seven IDPs were injured during the assaults, and several were robbed of agricultural tools. In West Darfur State, there have been similar occurrences of violence around El Geneina and Krenik localities, where farmers have been driven back into IDP sites after attempting to access farm land. The escalating tensions and conflict in Darfur could affect farmers’ ability to plan, consequently jeopardizing food security outcomes in the coming months. • Approximately 6,000 new IDPs arrived in South Darfur State’s Otash IDP camp from South Darfur’s East Jebel Marra Locality from January–May, bringing the total number of IDPs from East Jebel Marra in the camp to an estimated 10,300, according to the UN. The IDPs report that violence and consequent displacement in June 2018 disrupted the cultivation season, resulting in a lack of food that led to their secondary displacement to the Otash IDP camp, according to the UN. • On June 27, the UN Security Council extended the AU–UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur mandate to October, extending the period for the mission’s drawdown. The decision reflects the ongoing political developments in the country and aims to support the transition to a civilian-led government. The extension also follows concerns from humanitarian organizations in Darfur, who have increasingly relied on security escorts to conduct field operations. • On July 16, unidentified armed actors attacked UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) peacekeepers conducting a routine patrol in Abyei Area’s Amiet market—a joint market for the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities. The attack resulted in five civilian and one peacekeeper death and injured one person. In response, UNISFA deployed additional peacekeepers to the area to enhance security and determine the cause of the attack. 2 FOOD SECURITY • Ongoing cash shortages, currency depreciation, and the effects of the lean season are likely to lead to deteriorating food security outcomes across Sudan through September, according to FEWS NET. FEWS NET projects Emergency— IPC 4—levels of acute food insecurity among IDPs residing in areas of Jebel Marra—a mountainous region encompassing parts of Central Darfur, North Darfur, and South Darfur—and areas under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North in South Kordofan State.4 In addition, Crisis—IPC 3—levels of acute food insecurity are expected in parts of Blue Nile, Gedaref, Kassala, South Kordofan, and West Kordofan states and across most of Darfur and Red Sea State. • June-to-September seasonal rainfall is forecast to be above-average, likely leading to near-average crop production despite high agricultural input costs and fuel shortages. Accordingly, FEWS NET projects that food security will improve starting in October, when the cereal harvests commence and agricultural labor opportunities improve. However, poor macroeconomic conditions in Sudan are expected to continue driving high food prices, resulting in below-average household purchasing power and sustaining atypically high seasonal levels of food insecurity through at least January 2020. • According to the UN’s July–December HRP prioritization plan, approximately 90 and 60 percent of displaced and resident households, respectively, cannot meet food needs and require humanitarian assistance. The plan also estimates that 2.2 million children younger than five years of age are acutely malnourished, including 700,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. From July 10–22, USAID/FFP partner the UN World Food Program (WFP) reached more than 510,000 food-insecure people across Sudan with nearly 6,250 metric tons of in-kind food assistance. USAID/FFP has contributed more than $150 million to WFP operations in Sudan to date in FY 2019. • Desert locusts—which pose a significant threat to crop production—have migrated from Saudi Arabia and Yemen into summer breeding areas of Sudan’s North Kordofan State and the Nile River Valley. Locust swarms are also likely to cross into Sudan from Somalia beginning in October if control operations there are unsuccessful. The Government of Sudan (GoS) Plant Protection Department is actively monitoring the situation and positioning equipment and supplies in affected or at-risk areas of the country. USAID continues to provide technical support to pest control actors in Sudan and the region.