A young mother who returned to south Sudan at the time of the referendum. © CARE / Lindsay CarterTens of thousands of families have fled in terror as airstrikes, gun battles and burning of homes and buildings have intensified in the past week in the states of Abyei and South Kordofan in northern Sudan. The UN is reporting that more than 174,000 people have been displaced by the fighting between government forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army, with many people crossing into southern Sudan.
CARE is providing emergency assistance to families who have crossed into Southern Sudan desperately trying to escape the violence. We are calling for the protection of civilians.
Women and girls are at particular risk, with new mothers and pregnant women walking for days to reach safety, without access to clean water, food, or health care. Separated from their home communities and families, women and girls are at increased risk of sexual or physical attack.
We are prepositioning health supplies such as safe birthing kits and newborn kits at our primary health care facility in Panyang, near the border with South Kordofan, to help meet the needs of pregnant women and new mothers in particular, and providing emergency health care for families.
To help prevent the outbreak of waterborne disease, CARE is working with partners to distribute soap and jerry cans for the storage of clean water to families who have crossed into Unity State in southern Sudan. CARE is coordinating with UNICEF to preposition additional supplies, and we are planning to scale up our response to meet the growing need.
In South Kordofan, many roads are blocked, and ongoing fighting is slowing the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance. Reports indicate that many families are taking shelter in host families in neighbouring areas to the north or hiding in the Nuba Mountains, without access to food or clean water. Making the situation worse, the region is entering what is known as the ‘hunger gap’ between now and harvest time in October-November, and our staff warn that if families are not able to return home to plant crops now, then this could become a very serious long-term hunger crisis.
Tensions are on the rise in Sudan in the lead-up to July 9, when southern Sudan will become the world’s newest country. There are fears that the fighting could spread, adding to an already serious humanitarian situation across many parts of Sudan.
