Over a year since the start of the war in Sudan, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, remains extremely concerned about shocking levels of violence and devastating humanitarian and protection risks as many areas across the country remain beyond the reach of aid organizations.

For the first time since the conflict started, a UNHCR team with Sudan’s Commissioner for Refugees and national aid agency, JASMAR for Human Security, reached Omdurman in Khartoum State, a city severely impacted by the conflict. UNHCR staff saw the massive destruction caused by the war, with vast needs and high levels of suffering among a population which has been out of reach to humanitarians for months.  

During the two-day mission to Omdurman, which hosts over 12,000 refugees and more than 54,000 internally displaced people, UNHCR met with local officials and people impacted by the conflict to identify needs and understand the protection risks. 

Displaced families, including Sudanese and refugees who were in Sudan before the war, told UNHCR of their struggles to get enough food due to soaring prices, leading to fears of children becoming malnourished. Children have no access to schools, or places to play, and they are distressed by the sounds of clashes. Displaced people do not have adequate shelter, with many living in overcrowded conditions in gathering sites located mainly in schools. While two hospitals remain open, there is not enough medicine, especially for those with chronic illnesses. Pregnant women are not able to access prenatal care. People also shared serious concerns for their safety, reporting increasing sexual violence as well as limited legal support. Many are severely traumatized.

UNHCR identified relevant national agencies, NGOs and other community groups on the ground to whom we could offer support and supplies. 

Beyond Khartoum State, escalating hostilities in Darfur’s El Fasher city are aggravating the already perilous protection situation for civilians. According to available reportsLink is external, tens of villages have been targeted, some razed to the ground, killing innocent people and destroying public property and crops. Indiscriminate violence, including sexual violence as well as cases of separated and missing children, are on the rise. Movement restrictions on key roads are preventing people from fleeing to safer areas, forcing them to shelter in severely overcrowded displacement sites or open spaces, adding to risks.

UNHCR continues to call for the safety of civilians, safe access for aid agencies so that support and supplies can be delivered and, above all, for a cessation of hostilities. Humanitarian partners also need more support to boost their capacity to respond.

UNHCR, alongside UN partners, remains in Sudan to support its people and continues to operate wherever it has safe access. In Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan State, we are working with local partners, refugee leaders and community-based protection networks to monitor needs and assist where we can. We are also present in Red Sea, Northern, White Nile, Blue Nile, Gedaref and Kassala states, which host hundreds of thousands of refugees already in the country prior the conflict.

Nearly 6.7 million people have been internally displaced in Sudan, and the situation remains dangerous and volatile. The over 920,000 refugees in Sudan, mainly from South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, include over 200,000 who have been displaced several times within the country since the start of the war.

A year on, thousands continue to leave Sudan daily in search of safety in neighbouring countries. To date, 1.8 million people have crossed into Chad, Egypt, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic.

As the humanitarian situation continues to worsen, financial resources needed to meet needs across Sudan and in neighbouring countries are dangerously insufficient. To date, only 10 per cent of the $2.6 billion required to reach over 18 million people with life-saving assistance within Sudan have been received, and only 8 per cent of the $1.4 billion financial requirements outlined in the 2024 Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan have been met.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received a generous contribution of US$1.4 million from the Government of Iceland to provide nutritious meals to 36,000 school children in 167 public schools in Bum, Imperri, Kpanda Kemo, Sittia, Sogbeni and Yawbeko chiefdoms, Bonthe district. WFP in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, will use this funding to strengthen the school feeding programme in Bonthe district by ensuring at least one food commodity in the food basket is sourced from local smallholder farmers. This will contribute to offering a reliable market to local smallholder farmers while simultaneously improving dietary diversity for school children.

“When farmers are linked to predictable markets this will incentivise them to produce more nutritious crops and increase their income,” says Yvonne Forsen, WFP Representative and Country Director in Sierra Leone. “We are grateful for the generous contribution and commitment of the people and Government of Iceland.”

In Bonthe district, WFP will implement a climate sensitive Home-Grown School Meals programme targeting 136 primary schools. This programme will support 38 women Farmer Based Organizations, offering training, agricultural inputs and market opportunities to 1,140 women.

With the Iceland funding, farmer-based organizations will be supported to cultivate and deliver fresh vegetables and orange fleshed sweet potato to the target schools. WFP will also include locally-sourced fish in the school meals menu once a week in eight schools, while 1,500 students will benefit from improved school infrastructure such as kitchens and storage.

To provide a sustainable source of fuel for cooking, WFP will establish woodlots at school, and provide fuel-efficient stoves to reduce firewood consumption and protect the health of the cooks.

“Our contribution will boost the Feed Salone initiative of the Government of Sierra Leone and enhance access and retention in schools for all children in Bonthe district to reach their full potential,” said Ásdís Bjarnadóttir, Head of Mission, Embassy of Iceland. “We are also excited about the programme introducing fish in school meals which will not only provide children with essential nutrients but has the potential to contribute to improving food security and build more resilient food systems”.

Overall, in Sierra Leone, WFP provides school meals to 238,000 pupils in five districts including 28,000 school children under the home-grown school meals programme. The Government of Sierra Leone has prioritized home-grown school feeding as a key component of its National School Feeding Policy, with considerable premium on its multi-faceted nature including linking school feeding activities to local food production and procurement that has the potential to induce social and economic development of communities.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).

The United Nations (H6) joint mission has concluded its visit to Liberia, highlighting the urgent need for action to combat the high burden of increasing maternal and new-born deaths in the country. The delegation revealed that 1,100 women and 8,510 new-borns die annually during childbirth in Liberia.

Dr. Anshu Banerjee, H6 Mission Team Lead – WHO’s Director of the Department of Maternal, New-born, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing in Geneva, emphasized the gravity of the situation, stating, “Eleven hundred women die every year in Liberia giving birth, and of course, no woman should be dying giving birth.“

The delegation expressed concerns over the increase in new-born mortality rates and the alarming number of stillbirths, attributing these tragedies to a lack of quality care during childbirth and antenatal care, among other factors.

Dr. Banerjee outlined specific targets to reduce maternal and new-born mortality, emphasizing the need to enhance access to healthcare services, reduce high out-of-pocket expenditure for health services, improve health infrastructure, and enact legal frameworks to address gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, child marriages, and teenage pregnancies, among other issues.

Speaking during a briefing session at the Executive Mansion with the H6 team and Heads of UN agencies of the H6 partnership, H.E. President Joseph Boakai, said the issues highlighted by the H6 Mission are of national importance in line with the ARREST agenda, “As a government, we are committed to making things turn around. We commit to being a responsible society that will look out for our women and children. It’s our challenge, and we have the manpower, commitment, and goodwill to ensure that we make this a record of the past.” Meanwhile. H.E. President Joseph Boakai has lauded the team for conducting such an important exercise.

In an earlier interaction, Liberian lawmakers acknowledged the severity of the crisis and pledged to collaborate with the executive branch to address it. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable J. Fonati Koffa reaffirmed the Legislature’s commitment to supporting the health sector, citing the recent substantial increase in the health budget as evidence of their dedication to building a resilient healthcare system.

Ms. Comfort Lamptey, UN RC ai, and UN Women Liberia Representative noted the need to ensure that the $80 million dollars allocated to the health sector in the national budget prioritises investments to reduce the high rates of maternal mortality.

Dr. Clement Peter, WHO Liberia Representative, added, “We need to translate these recommendations into workable actions for implementation in the next 6 years and ensure that these numbers are reduced to acceptable levels- this is doable if we will work together.“

Mr. Andy Brookes, UNICEF Representative in Liberia, emphasized, “This is not just about data and numbers; it is about real people’s lives. We came with a message of urgency, and the consensus around the table speaks of commitment.“

UNFPA Representative Bidisha Pillai commended the First Lady, in her role as Maternal and Newborn Health Champion, the Minister of Health, and the legislators for their commitment to reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality. She stressed that the UN H6 partners will continue to support Liberia’s efforts to save lives and achieve the health-related national agenda and Sustainable Development Goals.

The H6 joint mission is committed to accelerating the reduction of maternal, new-born, and child deaths in Liberia. The mission has recommended specific interventions to reduce maternal deaths by 50 percent in four years, new-born deaths by 63 percent in five years, and stillbirths by 50 percent in five years.

The mission also emphasized the importance of inter-sectoral coordination and the linkages to the ARREST agenda, which focuses on Agriculture, Roads, Rule of Law, Education, Sanitation, and Tourism. The mission commended the increased budget allocation for health; however, stressed the need for timely disbursement and effective expenditure tracking, increased access to free education up to high school for all, particularly making the link between girls dropping out and teenage pregnancy, empowerment and meaningful engagement of adolescents and youth in policy making and implementation of youth-friendly services, and improvement of living conditions and infrastructure.

The H6 partnership remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting Liberia in achieving its healthcare goals and ensuring that no woman dies while giving life and that children should be born and live healthy lives and achieve their fullest potential.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN Women – Africa.

This follows a heartedly embrace of the program by the locals of the area.

The revelation was made yesterday at Pokwero sub-county during a meeting between the Special Presidential Assistant on Political Affairs, Mr. Owiny Alfred Thopacu and the PDM beneficiaries in the area.

Mr. Owiny is also in charge of PDM program monitoring in Northern Uganda.

Pokwero sub-county has six parishes that include Pokwero East, Janam- Orwenyo, Owiny, Oceke, Pokwero and Lobodegi. Over 600 beneficiaries from the six parishes attended the meeting.

Mr. Owiny asked beneficiaries to jealously guard the PDM program, an initiative that was started by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to help Ugandans join the money economy.

“The President wants each household in the rural areas to chase away poverty through PDM,” he advised.

Mr. Owiny reiterated his call to the beneficiaries to be extremely careful on enterprise selection, saying they should choose ventures that have high returns.

He offered to give farmers free cassava cuttings from his 5-acre cassava garden for planting once the rain stabilises.

“You must own PDM SACCOs, your village bank, that the government will be adding on more money each financial year and after 5 years every parish bank will have shs.500 million,” he said.

The LCV Chairman of Pakwach District, Mr. Robert Omito encouraged the beneficiaries of PDM funds to always attend such meetings once invited so that they get solutions to their challenges as far as the program is concerned and also get to hear some of the inspirational success stories.

The Pakwach Deputy Resident District Commissioner (DRDC), Mr. Twaibu Achile warned distractors to immediately stop spreading negative sentiments about the President’s development programs such as the PDM.

“When we were mobilising the beneficiaries to attend this meeting some negative elements were also demobilising you, that we are going to arrest you, when you have not even multiplied in your enterprises. Now arrest you for what?” he wondered.

The Ag. sub-county Chief-Pokwero, Ms. Hawa Sebbi gave a detailed account on the progress of the PDM program in her area.

She also recommended that the government should release PDM funds to beneficiaries in time so that farming operations are not affected.

One of the beneficiaries, Ms. Florence Oikane from Lobodegi parish said the funds she received, she used it to start a piggery farm and it has now registered success.

Mr. Coorom Patrick from Pokwero parish said he has since invested the PDM  funds in his 1.25 acres of cassava whereas Mr. Jayik Felix used the money to invest in fishing.

The meeting was also attended by senior government and security officials.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of State House Uganda.