Western Darfur. Distribution of basic household items.©ICRC/T. Gassmann/ref. sd-e-00181

The ICRC concentrates on addressing the needs of vulnerable people in remote rural areas while remaining ready to respond to emergencies.

Its priority is to offer protection, relief aid, medical care and assistance to victims of armed conflict and help them preserve their livelihood and restore contact with family members. The ICRC cooperates with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) and other members of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement.

In Southern Sudan violent clashes have escalated since the relative peace that followed the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Since 2008, attacks attributed to the Lord’s Resistance Army have displaced tens of thousands of Sudanese and forced thousands of Congolese to flee into Southern Sudan.

Intercommunal clashes have caused the death and displacement of thousands of people, especially in Jonglei State. This dire situation is compounded by poor rains and bad infrastructure.

Together with the SRCS and the Red Cross of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the ICRC has been tracing relatives of unaccompanied refugee children. Some have already been reunited with their families in the DRC and Sudan.

The ICRC supplies household items, fishing kits, tools, seed and food to thousands of displaced people and also provides them and residents with access to clean drinking.

In Darfur, although the level of violence has been reduced significantly as efforts to resolve the conflict continue, occasional clashes persist in the north, involving different communities, on one hand, and government troops and armed opposition groups, on the other.

The ICRC reduced its activities in November 2009 following the kidnapping of two of its expatriate staff (one of whom was released on 6 February 2010 after 89 days in captivity) in West Darfur and eastern Chad. The SRCS continues tracing and family reunification activities in the region.

The ICRC started working in Sudan in 1978 to assist victims of fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In 1986 it began assisting victims of the conflict between government forces and Southern Sudan opposition groups. Since 2004, it has been responding to needs arising from the hostilities in Darfur.

Presence (2010): 1,455 staff, including 103 expatriates