Denmark and Ireland donate US$6 million to the 2016 Sudan Humanitarian Fund [EN/AR]

Khartoum, 26 April 2016. The Governments of Denmark and Ireland have donated $2.8 million and $3.2 million respectively, to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) that will fund critical life-saving projects prioritised by humanitarian organisations in Sudan.

In recent months, Sudan has witnessed wide-scale displacement from the Jebel Marra area in Darfur, with tens of thousands of people reportedly displaced. Humanitarian organisations are currently responding to needs on the ground; however, acute gaps in life-saving assistance, such as water, nutrition, and health services provision, have stretched the existing capacity and funds. Moreover, other new humanitarian needs such as the influx of South Sudanese refugees into Sudan have put additional pressure on the timely delivery of humanitarian aid.

“Timely and targeted contributions from the donor community are vital to ensure that the SHF continues to be a strategic and flexible funding mechanism that supports life-saving interventions,” said Ms. Marta Ruedas, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan. “Funding received in 2016 will predominantly go towards supporting the response capacity of international and national NGOs - the front-line responders in emergencies.”

This new funding will support ongoing emergency response activities across Sudan and aims to pilot innovative humanitarian interventions so as to ensure maximum impact on the ground. SHF-funded projects are based on humanitarian principles, and in 2016 the Fund aims to further promote the integration and mainstreaming of critical issues such as gender and protection.

The SHF is a multi-donor pooled fund that supports the timely allocation and disbursement of funds to Sudan’s most critical humanitarian needs. Since 2006, the SHF has received and granted over $1 billion to international and national NGOs, and UN agencies, funds and programmes, enabling these entities to provide relief to people in need. In 2015, SHF allocated $54.8 million for humanitarian action across Sudan.