World Vision is addressing critical service gaps in several internally displaced people (IDP) camps in Darfur following the expulsion of several aid organizations from the war-torn region earlier this month.
A joint assessment by the United Nations and the Sudanese government has identified gaps in the provision of food, health care, water, shelter and other humanitarian services formerly provided by the expelled organizations.
World Vision is collaborating with other aid organizations and local authorities to fill some of the gaps.
In the Camps
On March 26, World Vision visited Sakely camp, five kilometers from Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, to assess the extent of needs among its residents following the expulsion of an international organization that assisted them for five years.
World Vision is taking over the provision of water, sanitation and hygiene services in the camp, home to about 6,000 displaced people.
The camp’s residents said they need more water sources as they are currently getting only a minimum water supply from a borehole fitted with a submersible pump and a few hand pumps. Also, they urgently need more latrines because many of the existing ones are over utilized.
“We need bamboo sticks and plastic sheeting to construct more latrines for our people,” said Alnur Sheriff Ali, a member of a committee that maintains water sources at the camp. “We also need construction materials for bathrooms,” he said.
He said the camp’s residents also need support to continue hygiene promotion activities such as weekly clean-up campaigns to prevent diseases caused by poor hygiene.
Added Health Initiatives
World Vision is set to expand its water, sanitation and hygiene promotion initiatives to serve the residents of Sakely. Currently, World Vision distributes monthly food rations to the entire camp and provides water to one section.
“We’ll continue assessing needs and responding to them as per our capacity and availability of funds,” said Mario Rodrigues, operations director for World Vision in Northern Sudan.
Starting in May, World Vision will provide supplementary food rations to help curb malnutrition among 47,000 under five children in Al Salaam, Kalma and Otash camps. Al Salaam and Kalma were previously served by another aid agency.
Partnership with World Food Programme
Further, World Vision and the World Food Programme (WFP) will jointly distribute food rations for May and June to more than 100,000 people in Kass, Kubum and Thur Nyama localities.
World Vision may continue conducting monthly food distributions in the three areas beyond June to fill a gap caused by the departure of another international aid organization.
World Vision also plans to expand its primary health care services to reach thousands of displaced people in areas formerly assisted by some of the expelled organizations in Kalma and Otash camps and Duma and Mershing settlements.
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