The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Heavy seasonal rains have caused severe flooding in Sudan leaving vast damage to people and infrastructure including access to clean water – critical in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic
Thousands of people, including internally displaced, refugees and host communities in Sudan have been affected by heavy rains which have triggered severed flooding and a rise of the river Nile up to nearly 17,5 metres, the highest level in 100 years according to Sudanese authorities.
“In Khartoum state alone, more than 21,000 people have been affected by the flooding and on Sunday, the Government declared a state of emergency in Khartoum. Across the country, as of 25 August, 380,000 people have been affected and 90 have been killed”, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at a briefing today at the United Nations in Geneva.
According to OCHA, some 37,000 homes have been destroyed, forcing families to seek shelter with relatives and host communities. Another 39,000 houses have been damaged, along with 34 schools and nearly 2,700 health facilities.
Talking on behalf of the refugees, Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that “an estimated 125,000 refugees and internally displaced people have been affected in total. This is particularly in East Sudan, White Nile, Darfur and Khartoum, and many are in urgent need of shelter and other emergency assistance”.
Ms. Mantoo added that “rains have been particularly heavy in North Darfur, leaving an estimated 35,000 IDPs, locals and refugees in need of help, and also 15 people have tragically died and a further 23 are missing”.
Many of those affected had been previously displaced by conflict and were already facing loss of income due to the economic challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Access to clean water which is critical in the Covid-19 pandemic has also been affected. Around 2,000 water sources are contaminated or non-functional, according to initial assessments.
“Hygiene and sanitary levels have plummeted due to flooded latrines and contaminated water supplies, preventing people from exercising necessary COVID19 prevention measures such as regular handwashing. Some health facilities have been damaged, hampering their abilities to treat patients should transmission of COVID19 or other viruses and diseases increase”, said UNHCR’s Shabia Mantoo.
Homes and community buildings have been badly damaged and destroyed leaving many in desperate need of shelter. “The damage to infrastructure has been devastating. Roads have become too muddy for traffic to pass, making it extremely difficult or impossible to deliver humanitarian aid to some communities, particularly in Blue Nile where humanitarian agencies are unable to reach some 5,700 people needing humanitarian assistance”, Ms. Mantoo said.
Across the country, UN and humanitarian partners are supporting the national response with emergency shelter and household supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene assistance, food, and health services.
OCHA’s Jens Laerke said that “a quick response has been possible because the Government, UN agencies and our partners had pre-positioned supplies to respond to the needs of 250,000 people before the rain started. But these stocks are being depleted rapidly. We therefore call on more support from donors”.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying
- Wide shot, Press briefing, Palais des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “In Khartoum state alone, more than 21,000 people have been affected by the flooding and on Sunday, the Government declared a state of emergency in Khartoum. Across the country, as of 25 August, 380,000 people have been affected and 90 have been killed”.
- Medium shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Shabia Mantoo, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “An estimated 125,000 refugees and internally displaced people have been affected in total. This is particularly in East Sudan, White Nile, Darfur and Khartoum, and many are in urgent need of shelter and other emergency assistance. Rains have been particularly heavy in North Darfur, leaving an estimated 35,000 IDPs, locals and refugees in need of help, and also 15 people have tragically died and a further 23 are missing”.
- Wide shot, journalists in room with screen
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Shabia Mantoo, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “Hygiene and sanitary levels have plummeted due to flooded latrines and contaminated water supplies, preventing people from exercising necessary COVID19 prevention measures such as regular handwashing. Some health facilities have been damaged, hampering their abilities to treat patients should transmission of COVID19 or other viruses and diseases increase”.
- Wide shot, journalists in Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Shabia Mantoo, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The damage to infrastructure has been devastating. Roads have become too muddy for traffic to pass, making it extremely difficult or impossible to deliver humanitarian aid to some communities, particularly in Blue Nile where humanitarian agencies are unable to reach some 5,700 people needing humanitarian assistance”.
- Close up, cameraman, Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Jens Laerke, Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “A quick response has been possible because the Government, UN agencies and our partners had pre-positioned supplies to respond to the needs of 250,000 people before the rain started. But these stocks are being depleted rapidly. We therefore call on more support from donors”.
- Wide shot, journalists in Press Room III, Palais des Nations.
- Wide shot, podium in press Room III, Palais des Nations
- Close up, hands typing on laptop
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.