2024 Severity of Needs, People in Need and Targeted
SUMMARY OF NEEDS
The protection environment in Sudan has grown increasingly dire, marked by a stark disregard of civilians’ safety and civilian infrastructure. This deterioration is linked to urban warfare in Khartoum, the spreading conflict in Darfur with ethnic dimensions, complex fighting in South Kordofan, and ongoing strife in Blue Nile - all set against a backdrop of rising criminal activity across the country. Many civilians remain trapped in conflict zones with many internally displaced to safer areas requiring psychosocial support and individual assistance to respond to rising protection needs. Persons with specific needs require specialized support amid severe economic hardship and rising inflation.
RESPONSE STRATEGY
The Cluster commits to addressing and mitigating protection risks and empowering affected people to assert their rights and dignity. This will be achieved through individual protection assistance and case management. Based on a community-based approach and mechanism, the Cluster will foster relationships with affected communities to enable self-identification of protection needs and risks, supporting multipurpose community centres where community activities and projects will be implemented through inter-cluster engagement. The cluster will adopt an area-based approach through inter-cluster collaboration, utilizing static facilities, mobile outreach units, and community committees to ensure sufficient access and a tailored response to address protection needs.
TARGETING & PRIORITIZATION
The cluster will prioritize localities with the most acute protection needs, guided by cluster severity analysis and hotspot mapping. The cluster focuses on the most vulnerable segment of the population, based on vulnerabilities of specific groups. This includes children and women at-risk, older persons without community support, and people with disabilities. To ensure programme sustainability, a community-based approach is prioritized and complemented by targeted individual protection services for the extremely vulnerable caseload. This strategy seeks to assist 3.6 million people.
PROMOTING QUALITY & INCLUSIVE PROGRAMMING
The cluster commits to advocating for equal rights of all individuals, irrespective of their gender, age, disabilities, or marginalized status. The cluster emphasizes the importance of involving people in decisions and actions that directly affect them and their communities. Women, girls, and people with disabilities are provided with access to platforms to express their concerns, to shape the response and course correct. In partnership with the AAP Task Team, the cluster commits to strengthening feedback and complaints mechanisms, focusing on secure and accessible reporting of SEA. In collaboration with the PSEA Task Force and in-country networks, the cluster will contribute to the survivor support programme, rigorous accountability, and thorough investigations. By embracing community-driven initiatives, it is vital to actively engage communities in formulating, implementing, and overseeing projects related to AAP and PSEA. This approach ensures that these initiatives effectively address both prevention and response aspects.
COST OF RESPONSE
The Protection Cluster requires $64 million to assist 3.6 million people, which reflects a reduction of 32 per cent compared to the revised 2023 HRP due to the robust prioritization exercise. Protection activities predominantly involve service provision, which inherently makes them human resource intensive. Additionally, a significant portion of humanitarian infrastructure was either destroyed or badly damaged in conflict-affected areas, making the transportation of supplies a more expensive endeavour.