Humanitarian support in Darfur continues amid insecurity

Plan continues to provide emergency humanitarian support in Darfur in the form of water, sanitation and hygiene to thousands of displaced children and families seeking refuge in camps.

Sudan, the largest country in Africa, has been at war for nearly 50 years. Figures from the United Nations reveal that, to date, the current humanitarian crisis has resulted in the deaths of at least 300,000 people and the displacement of over 2.7 million.

Until March of this year, over 4.7 million people affected by the crisis in Darfur were being assisted by some 16,370 aid workers from international and local agencies. Then, in March, the government of Sudan suddenly expelled some 13 international agencies and three local agencies from Darfur – leaving an enormous gap in humanitarian response. As one of the remaining agencies left to provide aid, Plan has joined efforts with agencies including UNICEF, WHO, WES and Sudan’s Ministry of Health to coordinate response efforts within the camps, specifically Zamzam camp.

Based on our experience coordinating and delivering water, sanitation and hygiene activities, Plan has taken the lead on providing these services to new arrivals in the Zamzam camp:

• 2,625 jerry cans have been provided in order to improve access and storage of safe drinking water.
• 3,210 new internally displaced people have benefited from education on proper water usage practices (such as storing and cleaning jerry cans) and prevention of water-related diseases.
• 3 week-long spraying campaigns have been conducted to reduce the density of mosquitoes, flies and other insects contributing to the spread of communicable diseases, specifically diarrhea and malaria.
• 44 community volunteers have received training to raise awareness among families on personal hygiene, hand washing, the preparation and management of Oral Rehydration Salts for treating diarrhea, and the ability to detect cases of meningitis.
• 6,839 households have been visited by community health volunteers and 30,000 people have benefited from the health promotion project.

So far, Plan has committed over $400,000 to provide emergency humanitarian support in Darfur. With humanitarian response on the verge of breaking down completely as both aid workers and civilians face insecurities posed by violent attack, raids on camps, arrests, increased fighting between rebel factions and government air attacks on rebels, Plan’s support is more needed than ever.

Donate now to Plan’s Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund to provide emergency support to children and their families affected by disasters and crises.



Learn more about Plan's work in Sudan.