UNHCR and Sudan’s Commission for Refugees (COR) completed the distribution of nonfood items (NFIs) to over 10,000 South Sudanese refugee and host community households in ‘open areas’ in Khartoum and to vulnerable host community households, to a UN agency said.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its bulletin that the distribution included blankets and plastic sheeting as interim shelter assistance, while inter-agency partners develop a more sustainable shelter response.
“The NFI distribution follows the completion of an inter-agency needs assessment of the ‘open areas’ in December 2017, which found significant protection, livelihoods, shelter and NFI needs, as well as health and education service gaps,” it said.
The agency pointed out that partners are currently developing a response plan and mobilizing resources to begin delivering humanitarian assistance.
In Khartoum, it said the South Sudanese population willing to return were advised to assemble at 41 departure points (staging areas). However, in 2013, as conflict erupted in South Sudan, many South Sudanese people were left stranded and were unable or unwilling to return. As a result, the departure points in Khartoum have gradually evolved into so-called “open areas,” where South Sudanese people are now living as refugees in poor conditions.