U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, CONFLICT, AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE (DCHA)
FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
Note: The last situation report was dated September 30, 2009.
BACKGROUND
In 2009, Sudan continues to cope with the effects of conflict, displacement, and insecurity countrywide. Since 2003, a complex emergency in Sudan's western region of Darfur has affected more than 4.7 million people, including nearly 2.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). In Darfur, conflict continues among armed opposition factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces, militias, and ethnic groups. Simultaneously, humanitarian agencies have experienced reduced access to affected populations since 2006 due to increased insecurity, targeted attacks against aid workers, and bureaucratic impediments to program implementation.
The National Congress Party and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement continue to implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) through the joint Government of National Unity (GNU). The formation of the GNU officially ended more than two decades of north–south conflict. During the conflict, famine, fighting, and disease killed more than 2 million people, forced an estimated 500,000 Sudanese to seek refuge in neighboring countries, and displaced an additional 4 million individuals within Sudan. The U.N. estimates that since 2005, more than 2.2 million people have returned to Southern Sudan and the Three Areas of Southern Kordofan, Blue Nile, and Abyei, straining scarce resources and weak infrastructure. In eastern Sudan, the GNU and the Eastern Front opposition coalition signed the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement in 2006. However, humanitarian needs persist in the area, which has experienced slow recovery following decades of conflict.
Since March 2009, humanitarian agencies have encountered reduced access to affected populations in Darfur and the Three Areas following the GNU-mandated expulsion of 13 international organizations and closure of three national humanitarian agencies. Remaining humanitarian organizations, in coordination with the Sudanese government, have initiated numerous short-term measures and expanded existing programs and areas of operation to prevent a rapid deterioration of humanitarian conditions in northern Sudan.
The U.S. Government (USG) is the largest bilateral donor to Sudan and has contributed approximately $4.5 billion for humanitarian programs in Sudan and eastern Chad since FY 2004. The USG continues to support the implementation of the CPA and joins the international community in seeking a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Darfur. On October 1, 2009, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, a.i., Mark L. Asquino renewed the disaster declaration for the complex emergency in Sudan for FY 2010.
NUMBERS AT A GLANCE | SOURCE |
| IDPs in Sudan | From Southern Sudan: 2.7 million
In Darfur: 2.7 million
In Eastern Sudan: 168,000 | UNHCR – October 2008
OCHA – January 2009
U.N. – September 2007 |
| Sudanese Refugees | From Darfur: 268,000
From Southern Sudan: 138,270
Returnees to Southern Sudan: 327,984 | OCHA – June 2009
UNHCR – February 2009
UNHCR – August 2009 |
| Refugees in Sudan | From Eritrea, Chad, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and other countries: 280,000 | UNHCR – June 2009 |
FY 2010 HUMANITARIAN FUNDING PROVIDED TO DATE
USAID/FFP Assistance to Sudan and Eastern Chad: $101,600,000
TotalUSAID and State Humanitarian Assistance to Sudan and Eastern Chad: $101,600,000
