provision of lifesaving integrated health and nutrition services to crisis-affected people in the South Jebel Mara area, South Darfur state. Peace across Sudan is the key priority for the transitional government of Sudan. Since late 2019 there is an increasing opportunity for the conflict areas to be accessed and reached with humanitarian assistance. Jebel Mara is one such area.

CARE has gained access to previously insecure areas in South and East Jebel Mara not reached by the humanitarian community since before 2008. Several assessment missions to Jebel Mara from late 2019 to mid-2020 identified significant humanitarian needs, both in terms of the long underserved local population as well as displaced people who are expecting to return to the area with the onset of peace. In South Jebel Mara (Gorlanbang cluster) where CARE aims to work under this project, there are more than 20,000 households (127,134), and 75% of them are IDPs who fled from bombing and military attack in the surrounding villages, as per the June 28 – July 2, 2020 interagency assessment report. These people didn't get any humanitarian assistance for over a decade, and they have dire and urgent needs. There is no health facility in the area. A few trained community members at private houses are provided minimal and poor service using smuggled drugs without any quality check. Reproductive health and nutrition services are absent in the area. 

Therefore, CARE proposes integrated health and nutrition services to reduce mortality and morbidity in the area. It will provide integrated and quality primary and reproductive healthcare services to reduce morbidity and mortality to the targeted communities. The minimum basis service package includes, but not limited to, curative outpatient consultation services for diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses, basic laboratory investigations, immunization, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), sexually transmitted infection (STI) management, antenatal care, clean and safe deliveries, postpartum care, mother and child health, gender-based violence (GBV), and emergency referrals for complicated cases to secondary health facilities. In addition to providing the curative services in the health facilities, CARE will focus on raising communities' awareness of critical public health issues to enhance their self-protection and resilience, and two-way dialogue based risk communication and engagement to understand better and address community perceptions, including social stigma and barriers that may impact health-seeking behavior. CARE will build a community-based network to rapidly identify and address health risks and disease outbreaks timely, including COVID-19. CARE will also provide high-impact nutrition services to complement its community-based interventions in line with Sudan national CMAM and IYCF protocols and comply with SPHERE standards. The services will include OTP, TSFP, referrals, and comprehensive community outreach and IYCF services by training mother support groups and nutrition workers in the targeted areas. 

The health and nutrition services will be integrated with CARE's OFDA funded WASH, health, and nutrition project to enhance the impact. The SHF funding will be key to fill critical gaps, including constructing a health facility, which is not part of the current funding.