Emergency response to Khartoum state flood affected schools Torrential rains that began in Sudan late July and early August have caused severe material damage, casualties, and have affected an estimated 340,000 people across Sudan. The current floods are reportedly the worst seen in the recent history of the country. Khartoum remains the worst affected state, with more urban areas affected compared to the notorious 1988 floods. 
In terms of education, it is estimated that over 140,000 primary school-aged children across Sudan have been affected by the floods, the majority in Khartoum State.  During the time of the flooding, schools in Khartoum State were on holiday for the Eid Festival.  Due to the emergency, the Ministry of Education extended the break until 21 August.  For the past several days, children have started to return to school, only to find that classrooms, latrines, and school grounds have been damaged or totally destroyed due to rainwater, flooding and stagnant water, and high winds.  Some schools in different areas of Khartoum remain closed due to major damage, and those children have been transferred to nearby schools, causing already flood-damaged classrooms to be overcrowded. Many children – particularly girls – are at risk of dropping out or not returning to school due to lack of sanitation facilities and the generally unhygienic and unsafe situations in the schools. 

During the days following the flood, an emergency unit at the Ministry of Education was activated and Education Sector partners active in education flood response joined a Flood Task Force.
Of the assessed schools, the most affected fall primarily into 3 categories:
• Not functioning.  Classrooms, latrines, and school grounds are majorly or totally destroyed; 
• Partially functioning, but with destruction/damage to classrooms and total damage to latrines; 
• Are functioning, but access is inhibited due to partial damage to classrooms and major or total damage to latrines.
Damaged/destroyed latrines are reported as the most affected component in schools resulting in strong negative impact on access – girls are particularly affected.   In some closed schools, students are being accommodated in neighbouring schools causing overcrowding. In other schools, children are taking classes in open air/under trees.  In order to address the limited space and lack of latrines, some schools are taking shifts while others have shortened the school day. In the 200 assessed schools, there are a reported 810 classrooms destroyed or damaged.  Though only 4 schools have been reported as occupied, there are 313 latrines that are not functioning (damaged or destroyed).

The impact on girls has been the highest, particularly due to lack of sanitation facilities.  It is estimated that about 14,743 children in the 200 schools are not accessing education due to the floods, with roughly 56 per cent of them being girls.  
It is clear from the assessments that there is a need to restore access to education immediately (which has already begun), but with the longer term vision of “building back better”.  If classrooms, latrines, teacher offices, fences, and infrastructure within schools are not reconstructed/rehabilitated using quality materials based on national standards (which have already been adopted across Sudan and are aligned to Child Friendly Schools guidelines), there will be a risk that impact of flooding on school aged children in the future will only be worse.  In addition, having school-level plans and incorporating Disaster Risk Reduction into school lessons will ensure that teachers and students are better prepared to cope with future emergencies. 
To restore access to education all assessment groups identified the following priorities:
• Gender-sensitive latrines
• Temporary learning spaces and repair of flood-damaged classrooms 

Out of 200 schools have been visited and assessed in Khartoum states by joint mission in 5 localities, 36 schools in Karary locality damaged totally or partially and that included classrooms and latrines. One girls' school had one side of the fence brought down leading to exposure of the girls. CAFOD planning to rehabilitate 6 schools in Karary locality.