UNHCR: $33 million more needed in revised Ethiopian Refugee Response Plan for Sudan

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partners have revised the ‘Sudan Refugee Influx from Ethiopia Response Plan’ that was  launched in November 2020, as people from Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region continue to seek refuge in Sudan. 

In its latest Sudan Situation Report released today, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the revised plan expands the timeframe of the plan to 31 December 2021 and incorporates flood preparedness and response costs and costs for the response in Blue Nile state.

The financial requirement has increased by $33 million bringing the total cost of the plan to about $182 million while the planning figure is for 120,000 refugee arrivals until the end of the year. OCHA points out that the plan is 47 per cent funded as of 30 June, according to the latest Ethiopian Emergency Situation – Funding Update.

More than 46,000 Ethiopian refugees from Tigray have been registered in eastern Sudan as of July 1, 2021. In Blue Nile state, about 7,400 Ethiopian refugees have arrived from the Benishangul Gumuz region, fleeing ethnic conflict and also require assistance.

As of July 2021, Sudan hosts more than 1.1 million refugees from South Sudan, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and other countries. According to the latest International Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report food insecurity levels are the highest ever recorded in Sudan. The 2021 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) estimates that more than 13.4 million people need assistance, including more than one million refugees.

In March, the UNHCR, together with 38 international and national partners, launched an appeal to assist more than a million refugees in Sudan. The 2021 inter agency funding appeal seeks US$ 574 million to assist refugees meeting basic needs, bolster self-reliance, and realise their rights. Sudanese from the host communities also stand to benefit, UNHCR says.

See the complete UNHCR revised plan: Inter-Agency Refugee Emergency Response Plan – Sudan: Refugee Influx from Ethiopia, November 2020 to December 2021 (Revision, May 2021)