Sudan - International Committee of the Red Cross Appeal 2011

March 2011 - Sudan continues to face many grave humanitarian challenges. In the north the conflict in Darfur continues with the levels of violence and insecurity once again increasing. This has lead to the new or continued displacement of nearly two million people leaving them reliant on outside assistance for food and other basic life-saving services. In the south the recent referendum decision to secede from the north (January 2011) has brought new challenges to a region already devastated by decades of civil war and beset by inter-tribal violence and chronic natural disasters (drought flooding). Hundreds of thousands of southerners have now decided to return to a homeland that lacks even the most basic infrastructure in many areas overwhelming local capacity to feed shelter and provide basic services to the population. CIDA's support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Sudan is helping to meet the basic needs of conflict-affected populations in both the north and south. This includes the provision of emergency food assistance water sanitation emergency medical care and protection. Through its strong network of local volunteers the ICRC is able to access remote rural populations that are often outside of the reach of other humanitarian agencies.