The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) will contribute one million euros to the emergency appeal launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to assist 200,000 people affected by the internal conflict in Sudan since mid-April.
Since April 15, when the violent clashes began, at least 334,000 people have been displaced within Sudan, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Of these, 72% are reportedly in the states of South and West Darfur. In addition, access to basic services, such as health care and water supply, has been deteriorating since the beginning of the fighting, as has access to food, medicine or water for many families due to both the fear of being caught in the crossfire and escalating prices. Some 15 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance prior to the conflict.
Through this emergency appeal, launched for a total amount of 30 million Swiss francs – some 30.5 million euros – the IFRC will support the Sudanese Red Crescent Society in responding to the direct impacts of the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Specifically, the IFRC’s work will focus on strengthening local humanitarian services through the provision of emergency first aid, medical services – either by ambulance or in health facilities – and psychological support.
It will also address the establishment of humanitarian services for populations displaced by the conflict, regardless of their status and wherever they are – in temporary sites or in full displacement – to ensure that the needs of separated, missing and deceased people and their families are met. In this way, the Sudanese Red Crescent will provide access to food, safe water, non-food items, sanitation, hygiene, protection and shelter through cash and in-kind assistance if the former is not feasible or safe.
Other basic components of the response are the protection of children, the prevention of gender-based violence and any other form of sexual abuse and exploitation, and the duty of care and security for actions on the ground, priorities of Spanish humanitarian action. Given the destruction and looting of Sudanese Red Crescent facilities in different branches and warehouses, much of the IFRC’s work will be to restore and increase the operational capacity of the Red Crescent so that it can continue to provide aid.
AECID has been working for years with the IFRC in responding to various humanitarian emergencies around the world. In the last two years (2021-2022), it has made contributions to its Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) totaling 5.95 million euros. Created in 1985 to provide immediate financial assistance in emergencies, the DREF has responded in the past two years to 14 international emergency appeals: Ebola in Guinea, COVID 19 in Cuba and Yemen, volcanic eruptions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, typhoons and cyclones in the Philippines and Madagascar, earthquakes in Haiti, Afghanistan, Syria and Turkey, floods in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and armed conflicts in Ukraine and Sudan.
In the Latin American region, AECID supports the IFRC’s work with the migrant population in transit through the Darien in Panama and, at the regional level, works with the Federation to promote greater gender equity in leadership positions in emergency response.
