UK adds £3 million to Sudan Humanitarian Fund for 2016

The Government of the United Kingdom has contributed £3 million to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF), a United Nations fund for humanitarian response. This is the UK’s second contribution for 2016, in addition to US$9 million allocated in April 2016.

In a statement today, the SHF pointed out that some 4.6 million people are targeted for humanitarian assistance across Sudan in 2016. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), the appeal that lays out the framework to address humanitarian needs, has received 41 per cent to date of the $952 million required. This includes $38 million which has been allocated through the SHF. New humanitarian needs in 2016 have been triggered by displacement in and around the Jebel Marra area in Darfur, by flooding across many parts of Sudan and by the influx of about 90,000 South Sudanese refugees into Sudan this year.

“The UK Government remains committed to working with partners to meet the needs of vulnerable people in Sudan. This contribution to the SHF will enable the response to new arrivals from South Sudan and other vulnerable people to be scaled up, with funds being channelled to international and local organisations who are best placed to respond,” said Dr. Christopher Pycroft, the Head of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in Sudan.

Strategic funding tool

“The SHF is a strategic funding tool that allows for the provision of timely humanitarian assistance and fills critical gaps in our response to humanitarian needs in various parts of Sudan. Funds contributed by the United Kingdom will be disbursed in the 2016 SHF Reserve for Emergencies Allocation to respond quickly to unforeseen needs through life-saving projects that provide health, nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter and protection services,” said Ms. Marta Ruedas, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan.

DFID has been a committed donor to the SHF since its inception in 2006, and this latest contribution comes at a critical time due to unforeseen needs in 2016.

The SHF plays a vital role in ensuring an effective, coordinated, prioritised and principled humanitarian response in Sudan. The SHF is a multi-donor pooled fund that supports the timely allocation and disbursement of funds to address Sudan’s most critical humanitarian needs. Since 2006, the SHF has received and granted over $1 billion to international and national NGOs and the UN, enabling these entities to provide relief to people in need. In 2015, the SHF accounted for 8 per cent of the funding disbursed to humanitarian partners, the statement concludes.

World Bank

The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) reports that on Monday, a grant agreement worth $5 million from the World Bank was signed at the Sudanese Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for the improvement of public finance management at the state level in Sudan in four states including the Red Sea, the River Nile, Sennar and North Kordofan.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Badr-Eddin Mahmoud Abbas, signed on behalf of the Government of Sudan. Caroline Turki, Interregional Director for Sudan and South Sudan signed for the World Bank.

The project is to be funded from Sudan multi-donor fund being administered by the World Bank with funding from the UK DFID and Norwegian cooperation. It aims to develop the efficiency and the accounting of the public finance management and the improvement of transparency systems in the management of public money as to contribute to the reduction of corruption opportunities.