Sudan Humanitarian Access Situation Report (June - July 2023)

This report is produced by OCHA Sudan in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the period from 1 June to 31 July 2023. The next report will be issued in October 2023.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The humanitarian situation in Sudan continues to deteriorate rapidly as the spread of active conflict and armed clashes claim the lives of civilians in ever greater numbers, continue to challenge access of humanitarians to people in need, and prevent populations’ access to life-saving assistance.

• Relief operations into and across Sudan are scaling up but at a much slower pace than needed, due to a large extent to the highly insecure operational space. Tragically, 19 humanitarian staff have been killed since the start of the conflict, including three in the first week of July alone.

• Primary and secondary displacement, both internally and across borders, continues unabated, with 2.7 million internally displaced and more than 855,000 people fleeing to neighbouring countries as of the end of July, and the numbers have since increased. In one week alone (25 July to 1 August), more than 334,000 people were newly internally displaced by the conflict with the highest proportions in River Nile, Northern, North Darfur and White Nile states. 70 percent of the displaced are from Khartoum, followed by North, South and West Darfur.

• Bureaucratic and administrative impediments (BAIs) continue to curtail humanitarian partners’ ability to deploy technical teams into Sudan and onwards to parts of the country where needs are highest. An estimated 220 international humanitarian workers were awaiting visas to enter the country at the end of July, with many applications through embassies pending for more than six weeks. Only about 250 international humanitarian workers are currently in Sudan.

• Despite the multitude of access challenges, on-the-ground access and Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) negotiations by OCHA facilitated the movement of 683 trucks in June and July, carrying over 31,000 metric tons (MT) of relief items to vulnerable and displaced people in need.

• Cross-border operations between Chad and Darfur have been agreed by the Sudanese and Chadian authorities, and humanitarian operations are currently being operationalized under the leadership of a dedicated Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (DHC) for Darfur.

• As humanitarians succeed in accessing previously unreached areas, it is critical to secure reliable funding for the response which helps maintain operational space and the continued acceptance of communities, through the sustained and principled delivery of assistance.