CERF allocates some $700,000 for life saving hospital interventions for IDPs and vulnerable host population in Sudan

To strengthen health facilities to care for 1.1 million IDPs in the Darfur region, John Holmes, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, has allocated some $700,000 in life saving hospital interventions from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

All state hospitals are facing a gap in covering the costs of services for the IDPs. Although the FMOH mandates that state hospitals should provide free services for under-fives, emergency care and Caesarean sections, the payments have been irregular and insufficient.

Secondary health facilities in the Darfur Region were adversely affected when 13 international and three national NGOs working in the three Darfur States had their registrations revoked, obliging them to cease operations with immediate effect. Health clinics were subsequently unable to cope with the hugely expanded case load emerging from the influx of large numbers of IDPs.

Despite intense fundraising efforts, the World Health Organization (WHO) was unable to secure immediate support from other donors to fill the gap. Funding from the CERF is therefore viewed as the last resort to sustain the life-saving project activities. WHO estimates that if funding is not secured, around 30% of IDPs will lose access to free services in the three Darfur States.