2024 Severity of Needs, People in Need and Targeted
SUMMARY OF NEEDS
Refugees and asylum seekers in Sudan face acute protection and life-threatening humanitarian needs, exacerbated by conflict and its impacts on national service systems. The conflict has imposed a dramatic rise in protection risks, including physical harm and death, extortion, arbitrary arrest and detention, conflict-related sexual violence, forced recruitment including of children, family separation, and smuggling and trafficking. In tandem, rising food insecurity, overcrowding in safe areas, disease outbreaks, malnutrition and mortality rates are pervasive. Safe water and sanitation facilities, education, and shelter and non-food items (NFIs) are also urgently needed. Sixty-five per cent of refugees are estimated to live in camp settings, often faced by security and encampment policy restrictions, and with a high reliance on aid for survival. Chronic underfunding has left the refugee response with critical gaps in service provision, even pre-crisis, risking the proliferation of life-threatening needs in a deteriorating humanitarian context.
RESPONSE STRATEGY
The 2024 Refugee Response Strategy under the HRP is aligned with the 2024 Sudan Country Refugee Response Plan (CRP), a comprehensive multi-sectoral inter-agency plan to address the needs of 963,410 refugees across 89 localities. Designed in consultation with the Commission for Refugees and 39 partners, the strategy aims to deliver critical protection and life-saving services to refugees across all sectors. The response strategy will be delivered through a three-pronged approach to (i) strengthen the protection environment for refugees and asylum seekers; (ii) enable access to timely protection interventions and life-saving assistance; and (iii) provide equitable access to basic services while in parallel strengthen opportunities for resilience and self-reliance where possible.
TARGETING & PRIORITIZATION
The response will prioritize delivery of critical protection and multi-sectoral life-saving assistance to refugees living in camps, including all areas of protection, education, food security and livelihoods, health, nutrition, shelter and NFI, WASH, and energy and environment. Refugees living in urban and peri-urban areas will receive protection and prioritized life-saving assistance, while community-based approaches are strongly encouraged to comprehensively meet needs.
PROMOTING QUALITY & INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING
The development of the Refugee Response Strategy was highly consultative, and partners will engage refugees in program design and implementation. AAP will be assured through capacity building, strengthening of community complaints and feedback mechanisms, engagement in AAP coordination platforms, mobilization for community outreach to ensure engagement with women and youth, as well as participatory assessments and their integration of findings into programming.
Prevention, mitigation, and response to SEA will be strengthened as a fundamental component. The RCF will expand engagement with forcibly displaced persons, partners, and government counterparts, with emphasis on capacity building, and safe and accessible reporting mechanisms. Initiatives will be carried out through survivor-centred approaches and align with AAP and GBV strategies.
The refugee response adopts an Age, Gender, Disability and Diversity (AGD) approach, using participatory methodologies to promote the role of women, men, girls, and boys of all ages and backgrounds as agents of change in their families and communities. Protection will be mainstreamed in the planning and delivery of assistance, using community-based approaches, establishing peer groups, and community committees to underpin meaningful participation in decision making processes for refugees and asylum seekers across age, gender and diversity groups.
COST OF RESPONSE
The 2024 refugee response seeks the funding of $631.2 million to provide critical protection and life-saving assistance to refugees and asylum seekers remaining in Sudan by 39 partners.