Shelters protect from the sun and also the rain

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Sudan- Rapid Response Fund (RRF) 3 March 2016

Beneficiaries come to inspect the quality of shelter materials

Beneficiaries receive training on shelter construction

Najla (standing on the right) with her family in front of their shelter

“There was not enough space (in the refuge) so the men would sleep outside covering their heads with a plastic sheet. The women and children would stand inside the whole night waiting for the rain to stop.” Thanks to USAID/OFDA,

the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) managed by IOM, provides emergency shelters in Blue Nile State through implementing partner ADRA.

Typical refuge that existed before the project

Blue Nile State in Sudan is a verdant place, scattered with fertile, green lands and characterized by the sparkling waters of the river that give the state its name.

Najla Yousif is a 42 year old female living in Elshaheed Afndy village, Bau locality in Blue Nile State. Together with her husband and their 12 children; 9 girls and 3 boys, Najla sought a living through small-scale agriculture. Bau has a total population of approximately 10,400 people. In January 2015, Najla and her neighbors faced a terrifying experience when their village was attacked as a result of armed conflict. Najla’s voice drops to barely a whisper as she describes their experience, “They come at night, threaten everyone, take our food, money, donkey and even our clothes and leave us naked. Our women experienced terrible violence, then they raided our homes and took everything.”

Elshaheed Afndy, was one of the first villages to be hit during the conflict and she and her family fled. They were lucky to escape unharmed, however they lost all but the clothes on their backs. Disoriented, scared and fearing for their lives, Najla and her family sought refuge with relatives in another village, where being crowded into a single house or ‘Rakoba’ was difficult, but preferable to seeking shelter in open fields or under trees. This was the peak of the rainy season in Blue Nile and the unforgiving rain thundered on throughout the night. She recounts, “We stayed with my brother and sister’s families and we were about 25 people in one Rakoba. There was not enough space so the men would sleep outside covering their heads with a plastic sheet. The women and children would stand inside the whole night waiting for the rain to stop.”

IOM’s Rapid Respond Fund (RRF) is a grant mechanism funded by USAID/OFDA- it is designed to be activated quickly in order to meet the critical, life-saving needs of newly displaced people in Sudan.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) appealed to IOM with a proposal to provide improved emergency shelters for the vulnerable families who, like Najla, had lost everything when they fled from the conflict. IOM responded with a rapid approval and between May and October 2015, 1,300 families were provided with improved emergency shelters.

The shelters were designed together with the families and took the extreme weather into account. Plastic sheeting was provided to protect the shelters and their inhabitants from the rain, but natural materials were

also used to construct the shelter, keeping inhabitants cool during the summer months. In addition, the new owners were trained in methods of maintaining their shelters and taught to avoid hazards such as fire. Other important training related to protecting themselves from violence was also provided. Thanks to the RRF, Najla was able to move out of her relatives’ home and into a safe shelter with her immediate family. “Now,” she says with relief, “I am very happy to live with my children and husband in one house. We have space, we have privacy and we are protected from the weather.”

She continues to explain that before the Rapid Response Funds arrived, no-one reached them to provide any help and they were struggling daily to survive. Now not only do they have a strong shelter to live in, but they also received training on the safe use of the shelter, child protection plus other ways of protecting themselves from harm. “Now we are so happy because everyone has received shelter. Who doesn’t thank people, doesn’t thank God,” concludes Najla, with a broad smile.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Sudan- Rapid Response Fund (RRF) For further information please contact the IOM RRF Grant Manager at: llimahken@iom.int

Shelters are designed together with beneficiaries

“There was not enough space (in the refuge) so the men would sleep outside covering their heads with a plastic sheet. The women and children would stand inside the whole night waiting for the rain to stop.” Thanks to USAID/OFDA,

the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) managed by IOM, provides emergency shelters in Blue Nile State through implementing partner ADRA.

Typical refuge that existed before the project

Najla and her family in their new shelter