QRCS offers food, non-food aid to 27,000 Ethiopian refugees in Sudan
The representation office of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in Sudan has completed Phase 1 of an emergency response to the recent influx of Ethiopian refugees from the war-ravaged Tigray Region of Ethiopia.
Food and non-food aid was distributed to thousands of refugees facing severe conditions at the Tunaydbah refugee camp, Gadarif State.
The distributions included 2,500 food parcels, each containing 44kg of food items like flour, rice, lentils, tea, salt, and vegetable oil, as well as 2,000 hygiene kits.
In total, these provisions were received by 4,500 refugee families, or an average of 27,000 beneficiaries.
According to QRCS, these were part of Phase 1 of the project, which involves multiple sectors at a total cost of QR6,681,818.
It is planned to distribute another 1,000 food parcels to be shipped from Qatar later this month, sending the overall number of food parcels to 3,500.
Over the coming period, Phase 2 will be initiated to distribute 2,180 relief kits (kitchenware, blankets, soap, jerry canes, water storage containers, tarpaulins, and washing powder). In relation to water and sanitation, 300 permanent toilets will be delivered and installed.
In partnership with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), the camp’s health centre will be furnished and operated to offer primary health care services.
Dr Awadallah Hamdan, head of QRCS’ office in Sudan, said the organisation would always be there for Sudan.
Qatar, he asserted, will continue to support the Ethiopian refugees in Sudan with diverse relief interventions.
QRCS has already responded to many disasters in the country, including the flash flooding and the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
It works together with SRCS on large-scale health and development projects in Darfur and many other states.
Al-Sayed Abdulazeem, SRCS’ manager of the Tunaydbah refugee camp, commended the diversity and size of the food parcels provided by QRCS for the Ethiopian refugees, compared to other humanitarian providers.
He described the aid as “timely to alleviate the suffering of the beneficiaries”.
Eng. Abdulmoneim Othman, the camp’s manager from Sudan’s Commission of Refugees (COR), praised QRCS’s efforts and interventions and promised to offer all possible support to facilitate their work.
The Ethiopian refugees at the camp appreciated the ongoing relief aid from QRCS, which reflected on their smiling faces and thankful words as they happily received the relief items.
Over the past few months, Ethiopian refugees have been displaced by the violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
The latest estimates issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicate 61,209 registered refugees. Approximately $157mn is needed to respond to the urgent needs of up to 115,000 refugees and 22,000 host communities in Sudan and Djibouti until June 2021.
Gaps remain in all sectors, from water, sanitation, and hygiene to health facilities, food, shelter, protection response, especially youth protection activities, and psychosocial support.
Fuel shortages, limited numbers of vehicles, and limited road access are also posing a challenge to the relocation of the new arrivals, as well as the provision of supplies to the different sites.
There is a dire need of energy, especially alternative cooking energy.