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A child fetches water at an improved water source in Southern Sudan. (USAID)
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24 July 2007
USAID, Other Donors Coordinate Humanitarian Efforts in Sudan, July 24, 2007(Partnership for a Better Life)
As the sun beats down on the desert in Nyala, in the state of South Darfur, a truck convoy carrying relief supplies pulls into town. Hundreds of miles southeast, in the town of Torit in the state of Eastern Equatoria, a small propeller plane carrying several humanitarian workers touches down on a dirt airstrip. Later in the day, dozens of representatives from U.N. agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gather in a meeting room in Khartoum to share the latest news affecting the humanitarian situation.
Throughout Sudan, logistics and information coordination programs funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) support cargo shipments, humanitarian worker transportation and information-sharing. Vital for service delivery, coordinated efforts ensure that people and goods reach those in need as quickly as possible.
Sudan is confronted by concurrent challenges, including an ongoing conflict in parts of the country and a large internally displaced population.
The complex assistance program provides extensive humanitarian and food aid to vulnerable people in southern and eastern Sudan and Darfur in western Sudan, as well as extensive reconstruction aid in the war-affected south and areas of Abyei, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
One of the biggest challenges of working in Sudan is transporting humanitarian staff to remote areas. The country includes some of the most inaccessible areas in the world, with few paved roads, harsh terrain that includes deserts, mountains and swampland, and land mines in the southern and central areas. Air travel is the only reliable way to reach many locations and people in need.
USAID supports activities that keep the overall Sudan humanitarian operation running. When newly displaced families arrive at camps in Darfur, aid groups, including U.N. aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations, provide blankets, plastic sheeting, sleeping mats, water containers, clothing and other basic items to offer critical support and to help people facing uncertainty and insecurity.
With funding and support from USAID, U.N. agencies developed a common procedure for humanitarian groups serving the area to procure in bulk, transport, store and distribute relief goods. This system saves the aid groups money and ensures that there is no duplication of goods ordered for distribution to the same target populations.
To tackle the challenge of moving thousands of tons of additional supplies to Darfur, USAID provided the nonprofit group CARE with funding to operate a common cargo transport service. The service allows humanitarian organizations to send cargo on a schedule. By using the combined service, humanitarian groups save money on shipping costs compared to the costs of individual organizations sending supplies separately.
The United States is the largest international donor in Sudan, consistently providing 80 percent of all humanitarian assistance -- more than $1 billion since 2005.
For more information on how U.S. development aid changes lives, see Partnership for a Better Life.
