Providing Protection
People fleeing war, disaster or persecution can be very vulnerable. UNHCR supplies displaced people with essential items, food and shelter to protect them from having to make dangerous decisions to survive. On a larger scale, UNHCR negotiates safe passage, asylum spaces and humanitarian access, upholding the rights of refugees and minimising the threat of violence, including sexual assault.
UNHCR leads the inter-agency protection cluster, which works to ensure the safety of particularly vulnerable South Sudanese people who have been forced from their homes. This includes creating child-friendly spaces in refugee camps to assist unaccompanied children with family identification and reunification.
UNHCR’s Protection Monitoring System (PMS) also helps identify those affected by sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) for treatment and support.
Providing Shelter
UNHCR provides refugees with emergency shelter — tents, tarpaulins and demountable housing — in the immediate aftermath of displacement. More broadly, we are responsible for site planning and camp management to ensure refugee settlements are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. For those living outside camps, UNHCR funds the rehabilitation of communal shelters, the construction of new homes and rental assistance for those in urban situations. UNHCR also provides materials that displaced people need to build a home themselves under self-help schemes.
UNHCR is providing support to South Sudanese refugees in five UN Mission bases in South Sudan. The temporary shelters we provide include lightweight emergency tents and plastic sheeting. These tents give a displaced family of five protection from the elements: wind, rain, the blazing sun and the bitter night cold.
Providing Food
Malnutrition is a common consequence of conflict and displacement. UNHCR works with the World Food Programme (WFP) to ensure that all refugees have access to adequate nutrient-rich food. UNHCR assists with the distribution of food rations in camps and provide urban refugees with vouchers and cash assistance for the purchase of food and groceries. In acute situations, UNHCR supports emergency nutrition and therapeutic feeding programs, supplying fortified milks and ready-to-use therapeutic foods.
There is an ongoing shortage of food and clean water in many of the camps for displaced people in South Sudan, there is an ongoing shortage of food and clean water. UNHCR and the World Food Program have been distributing emergency food aid to families in the worst affected camps. They have also increased food rations in regions where food security is a grave concern
Providing Water
When people flee their homes, they often struggle to safely and easily access adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, endangering their health. UNHCR provides extensive infrastructure in refugee camps – wells, pumps, tap-stands and latrines – to meet refugees’ water needs and prevent disease. The water containers we provide as part of our basic survival kit enable displaced families to fetch and store clean water.
Providing refugees with clean drinking water is an ongoing challenge. UNHCR has overseen the installation of major water infrastructure in displacement camps, but medical staff continue to battle outbreaks of deadly diseases like bloody diarrhoea, cholera and Hepatitis E.
UNHCR staff distribute jerry cans that allow families to carry and store clean drinking water and protect themselves from waterborne illness. They also run community education programs to improve water usage and sanitation practices in the camps.
Providing Medication
UNHCR facilitates access to basic healthcare for refugees through camp clinics and local healthcare providers. Priority health services include emergency medical care for those who have suffered violence, reproductive services and treatment for infants and the elderly. UNHCR also coordinates immunisation programs to prevent the spread of diseases in crowded refugee settings.
In the north of South Sudan, UNHCR is supporting health clinics in ten camps for displaced South Sudanese. Conditions in the camps are harsh and residents suffer high rates of acute malnutrition as well as outbreaks of malaria and waterborne disease. Pregnant women and children make up a large proportion of patients in need of emergency and ongoing medical care.
Providing Supplies
UNHCR distributes life-sustaining items such as mattresses, blankets, kitchen sets, jerry cans, stoves and fuel, soap and other sanitary items to refugees under its care. These supplies are tailored to the specific needs of the refugee population: for example, winterisation kits are distributed in camps and communities where sub-zero temperatures occur. UNHCR maintains global stockpiles of core relief items for immediate delivery in emergency situations.
UNHCR has been delivering emergency relief and ongoing services to men, women and children in ten large refugee camps near the Sudanese border. Getting emergency staff and relief equipment to these camps is an ongoing challenge given their remote location. The persistent insecurity and an annual rainy season, which causes widespread flooding, can cut road access to the region for months at a time.
Supplies
Protection
Shelter
Food
Water
Medicine
Supplies
