Today's top news: Sudan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Haiti

#Sudan

Humanitarian needs surge as people flee intense hostilities in Kordofan

OCHA warns that as families continue to flee intense hostilities across Sudan’s Kordofan region, humanitarian needs are surging.

In South Kordofan State, more than 1,000 people were newly displaced between Sunday and yesterday from the state capital Kadugli – as well as the towns of Dilling and El Koaik – according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They are reportedly seeking shelter in the states of North and West Kordofan, as well as Khartoum and White Nile.

People have also been arriving in White Nile from parts of West Kordofan, including the towns of Babanusa and Heglig, which have seen intense fighting this month. Yesterday, local authorities in White Nile reported that some 1,600 people – the vast majority of them women and children – arrived in the city of Kosti. Many endured journeys lasting over a week – often through South Sudan – and showed clear signs of trauma. While humanitarian partners are providing them with basic shelter, health, water, sanitation, food and protection assistance, needs are outstripping available resources.

At the same time, partners report that more than 3,000 people have crossed from the Kordofan region into Yida in South Sudan in recent days, with further displacement expected.

People from the Kordofan and Darfur regions are also seeking shelter farther east in Gedaref State, where local authorities reported on Monday that about 2,500 people had recently arrived in the locality of Al Fao, with more expected in the coming days.

In Northern State, displacement continues to rise in the town of Ad Dabbah, where more than 15,000 people from the Kordofan and Darfur regions are sheltering in Al Afad camp. Assistance is being scaled up, but efforts to support food security and livelihoods and provide cash assistance remain critically underfunded.

Nationwide, IOM estimates that more than 9.3 million people remain internally displaced across Sudan’s 18 states, alongside over 3 million returnees in nine states. More than half of them are children.

Nearly one third of displaced families and one fifth of returnee households have reported going a full day and night without food in the past month, while access to healthcare and sanitation remains severely limited.

Meanwhile, OCHA remains deeply concerned over the plight of civilians in the Darfur region. A report released yesterday by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab documents widespread and systematic mass killings in North Darfur’s state capital El Fasher, after the Rapid Support Forces took control of the city in late October.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is sounding the alarm over reports from South Darfur State that more than 70 health workers and some 5,000 civilians have been forcibly detained in the state capital Nyala. They are reportedly being held in overcrowded conditions and exposed to disease outbreaks.

Once again, OCHA calls for the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law. It is also urgent that rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access is facilitated, and that international support is scaled up to ensure the provision of life-saving assistance across Sudan.*

*Donations made to UN Crisis Relief help UN agencies and humanitarian NGOs reach people in need in Sudan with urgent support.   

#Occupied Palestinian Territory

UN, partners prioritize winter support for families in Gaza 

OCHA reports that the UN and its humanitarian partners in Gaza continue to focus their efforts on providing assistance to prepare for the winter to the most vulnerable families across the Strip.

OCHA estimates that nearly 55,000 families have been affected so far by the most recent rains across Gaza, with their belongings and shelters damaged or destroyed in the storm.

The rainstorm has also damaged dozens of child-friendly spaces, disrupting or suspending activities related to child protection. The disruption has impacted approximately 30,000 children across Gaza. Urgent repairs are needed to ensure that these activities can resume without delay.

Over the past three days, partners working to address gender-based violence report that they delivered 3,000 dignity kits to vulnerable women and girls across the Strip.

Partners leading efforts to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene report that repairs are ongoing in multiple locations to reduce the overflow of sewage in the streets and improve public health. Teams are working to fix a sewage pipeline in Saeed Al Aas Street and the Nafaq area in Gaza city, as well as the Wafia and Hamad sewage pump stations in Khan Younis.   

In terms of water supply, 38,000 people sheltering at displacement sites in Al Mawasi are now able to collect water from community water tanks that have been directly connected to these sites, thanks to efforts by the UN and its partners. The second phase of this project, which will reach another 40,000 people, is now underway. This initiative makes water collection easier and safer and reduces the burden of using water trucks.  

However, OCHA warns that ongoing impediments continue to hamper humanitarians’ efforts to more quickly scale up the response.

#Haiti

Armed violence deepens needs, constrains humanitarian access in Artibonite

OCHA warns that the humanitarian situation in Haiti’s Artibonite department is swiftly deteriorating as armed groups expand their control in several communes, further restricting humanitarian access.

On 15 December, local sources reported that six people were killed and others wounded following an armed attack in the commune of Verette. Houses and agricultural storage facilities were reportedly set on fire. People were forced to flee, though figures are not yet available.

The assailants also attempted to set fire to the Albert Schweitzer Haiti Hospital – a major medical institution in Verette – but were repelled by security forces in the area.

Two weeks earlier, more than 11,000 people were displaced in the same department following attacks in the communes of L’Estère, Pont-Sondé, Descordes and Liancourt.

OCHA continues to closely monitor the situation, and the UN and its partners are mobilized to deliver aid as soon as security conditions permit.