2024 Severity of Needs, People in Need and Targeted
SUMMARY OF NEEDS
Over 14.7 million people are facing critical challenges in accessing essential life-saving primary health care as the health sector is collapsing due to the reduction of functioning health facilities along with an acute shortage of medical supplies, water and fuel, and the increase of attacks on health facilities.
Without increased access and availability to essential quality health services, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental health and psychosocial support and child and maternal health services, the affected populations will suffer devastating increases in preventable morbidity and mortality.
RESPONSE STRATEGY
The cluster seeks to reduce avoidable morbidity and mortality for conflict-affected people, with a strong emphasis on ensuring accountability to affected populations. Through an integrated and multi-cluster approach, the response is guided by the following objectives:
- Support essential public health functions (including emergency trauma response) with a focus on strong primary health care services.
- Strengthen emergency preparedness, response, and all-hazards emergency risk management.
- Address the needs of vulnerable groups who are disproportionally affected by health emergencies.
TARGETING & PRIORITIZATION
The cluster aims to assist 4.9 million people, representing 33 per cent of the total people in need. Partners will focus on disease outbreak preparedness, detection and response, improving sexual and reproductive health services, sustaining child and maternal health services including immunization for children, managing severe acute malnutrition, treating chronic conditions, and providing mental health and psychosocial support. They will also enhance cross-cluster services and referrals for GBV case management due to the rising cases of sexual violence against women and girls. Additionally, a cross-border coordination unit has been set up in eastern Chad to support essential assistance in Central, West, and North Darfur.
PROMOTING QUALITY & INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING
The cluster is dedicated to improving its response by building the capacity of national NGO partners and promoting local and national accountability systems. It strongly emphasizes the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), aligning with Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) policies and providing training to partners. Commitment to preventing SEA is a minimum requirement.
The cluster also focuses on offering gender-inclusive health services to enhance accessibility and uptake. It prioritizes interventions that consider the needs of diverse gender groups, including women and girls.
COST OF RESPONSE
The cluster requires $178.6 million to respond to humanitarian needs and enhance response preparedness for emerging public health emergencies. Coordination with other clusters, particularly water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition, FSL and protection, is essential to maximize the impact of the response. Opportunities will be explored to strengthen collaboration with development partners that will enable a transition from emergency response to longer-term development.