Ireland commits €2 million to support women and girls in Sudan and neighbouring countries hosting refugees

The Government of Ireland is committing €2 million – about USD$2.17 million – to support UNFPA’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and neighbouring countries, including South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt and Libya.

This funding for UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, will help provide life-saving reproductive health and protection services for women and girls. Ireland’s contribution is being channelled through the Humanitarian Thematic Fund, a flexible, multi-year fund that enables UNFPA to respond rapidly to emerging and ongoing crises.

UNFPA is working with partners in Sudan, where ongoing conflict has sparked the world’s largest displacement crisis. Around 7.7 million people have fled their homes within Sudan – including more than 1.9 million women and girls of reproductive age. Among them are an estimated 116,000 pregnant women, of whom close to 39,000 are expected to give birth in the next three months.  

An additional two million people have been displaced to neighbouring countries – primarily Chad, Egypt and South Sudan, where they remain in vulnerable situations in refugee camps.

The fighting has also triggered a hunger crisis, with an unprecedented 25.6 million people (over half of the population), including more than 611,000 pregnant women, in crisis levels of hunger. Around 18,000 pregnant women are already in famine conditions. Food insecurity is also increasing the risks of gender-based violence (GBV), because social norms and protection mechanisms for women and girls to access crucial GBV prevention and response services have broken down.

In a country where horrifying levels of sexual violence have already destroyed so many lives, and the health-care system has all but collapsed, UNFPA is supporting safe spaces for women and girls – as well as providing essential health services, including emergency obstetric and newborn care, and deploying mobile clinics to hard-to-reach areas. 

In the past year, UNFPA and partners have reached more than 700,000 people with both gender-based violence response services and reproductive health and services in Sudan. Ireland’s support is crucial for UNFPA to continue this urgent and life-saving work.

“The support from Ireland is more vital than ever to ensure that women and girls in the most affected localities receive sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services in the midst of one of the worst humanitarian crises,” said Mohamed Lemine O Moujtaba, UNFPA Representative in Sudan.

Nicole McHugh, Humanitarian Director at Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, said: “The ongoing conflict in Sudan has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis for millions of people. Ireland is deeply troubled by the disproportionate effect that this violence continues to have on women and girls.”

“Through this contribution to UNFPA, Ireland will support the needs of internally displaced people in Sudan and refugees in neighbouring countries, particularly the provision of services to women affected by gender-based violence and essential sexual and reproductive health services and support,” she added.

Ireland has been a strong supporter of UNFPA’s humanitarian work for several years, bolstering UNFPA’s response in Ukraine and neighbouring countries, the drought-affected Horn of Africa, and earthquake-struck Türkiye, among other crises. 

In 2023, the Humanitarian Thematic Fund reached some 960,000 people with sexual and reproductive health services and 719,000 with gender-based violence prevention and response services in 35 countries, supporting more than 60 local and national organizations, including women-led groups. 

In Sudan, UNFPA is urgently appealing for $83 million for 2024 to address gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, and the needs of people affected. Immediate action is required to support the people of Sudan and bring an end to this catastrophic crisis.