The UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) and 64 humanitarian and national civil society organisations have appealed for $1 billion to provide essential aid and protection for the people in Sudan.

The support will assist at least 1.8 million people fleeing the ongoing conflict in Sudan, expected to arrive in five neighbouring countries by the end of 2023.

The five countries are the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

Since the crisis began when rival military groups clashed in mid-April, projections of growing numbers of people trying to escape fighting have sharply spiked upwards.

“The crisis has triggered an urgent demand for humanitarian assistance, as those arriving in remote border areas find themselves in desperate circumstances.

“They find themselves in desperate circumstances due to inadequate services, poor infrastructure and limited access,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR Regional Bureau Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes and Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Sudan Situation.

The current appeal is based on expectations reflecting a two-fold increase of what was initially estimated in May to respond to the crisis.

More than one million refugees, returnees, and third-country nationals had already fled the country, the agency reported.

Critical necessities include water, food, shelter, health services, cash aid, core relief items, and protection services.

Urgent attention is also required for the new arrivals’ increasingly dire health situation.

High malnutrition rates, disease outbreaks like cholera and measles, and related deaths occur in several receiving countries.

The countries receiving people fleeing Sudan–Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan – were hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people even before this crisis.

The 2023 Sudan Emergency Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) was launched in May 2023, revised in June, and again in August.

The revisions reflected dramatic and ongoing increases in external displacement from Sudan and the resulting humanitarian crisis. 

(NAN)