Sudan Protracted Joint Response 2024-2026 (Project) SUMMARY:
In Sudan, conflict between the SAF and RSF erupted on April 15, 2023. While fighting has been chiefly concentrated in the country’s capital, Khartoum, the conflict has impacted other regions as well.
Over 12,000 people have been killed, with about 5.9 million displaced within the country, making it the largest internal displacement crisis globally. More than 7.2 million people have fled their homes, taking refuge inside and outside the country, with children representing about half of the people displaced. Sudan is now the country with the largest number of displaced people and the largest child displacement crisis in the world.
In this JR, Plan International Sudan, ASSIST and FPDO will respond to the urgent WASH, FSL and Protection needs that have arisen since the conflict aiming to support 9030 people in need. The ongoing and escalating violence has directly impacted hundreds of thousands of civilians, resulting in loss of life, widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure & complete disruption of basic services. Electricity, water and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as businesses & homes, have been damaged, looted or destroyed. HHs are running low on food, fuel & cash, while prices of basic commodities have risen by 40-60 % in some areas. Food insecurity continues to rise and is becoming a life-threatening concern for many as food production, inflation, supply chain disruptions & fuel shortages have led to shortages & price hikes, leading to many unable to afford even basic goods. Also, states that host displaced populations present significant gaps in terms of WASH. The recent crisis has had a devastating impact on access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, increasing risk of water borne diseases, including cholera & mosquito-borne diseases. In terms of Protection, there are persistent gaps: protection monitoring services; support to services providers; strengthening of referral pathways; special attention on the differentiated needs & increased risks for girls & young women to SGBV; protection needs of children. The JR is designed to increase resilience by strengthening protection structures through training & capacity building, supporting the creation of linkages between actors, and updating and improving CP & GBV referral mechanisms. Also, it provides case management services and cash support to the most vulnerable children to increase the resilience of vulnerable community members.

Within Protection, social cohesion through the formation of parenting life skills groups, girls shine groups, CFRM's, awareness sessions and the construction of CFS's for adolescents is also a focus. Parenting sessions will provide parents who are struggling with tools to care for their children positively and productively, while the girls shine groups will help married and unmarried girls to understand girls’ perspectives and realities on child marriage.

FSL activities intend to increase resilience by providing vocational training, start up kits & training on business management. It also provides a comprehensive agricultural package for rural communities to increase food security through climate-adapted agriculture among vulnerable farmers. The WASH package will increase resilience of vulnerable communities by supporting hygiene campaigns and committees. This JR builds on the experiences & lessons learned of the previous PCJR in both SK and ND. Most of the resilience building activities prioritized in the project are a continuation of ongoing interventions in JR4. Additional components such as WASH are expected to alleviate the critical needs of women & girls; mitigating the protection risks they face in fetching water from remote locations & improving their wellbeing through access to safe potable water. Previous learning has informed the split of activities between Plan, ASSIST & FPDO so that all can use their expertise effectively to carry out each of the project activities. Lessons learned are also being incorporated into the design of the CFRM to ensure community consultation and engagement to ensure accountability to affected people and ensuring ownership of local communities. The importance of building core CP skills & capacities that are transferable to case management has also been highlighted. Therefore, priority has been given to building skills of the case management workforce. Also, it has been found that involving children in decision-making processes regarding their protection fosters a sense of ownership & empowerment so this will be incorporated in JR5 as well. Plan's main target groups will be girls, boys, and adolescents. These groups have been identified to be exposed to great protection risks. To improve their protection and contribute to the prevention of risks, vulnerable children, adolescents and their families will be targeted as part of this programme. People with Disabilities are always considered in our interventions. The partners have developed a program leaning on the scenario whereby in year 1 the focus of the project will lie on immediate lifesaving needs and years 2 and 3 the focus will lie more on resilience-oriented programming. In terms of accessibility, locations identified in this project are currently relatively accessible. However, should the situation change for the worse the partners and Plan will shift the activities to other locations, including potential cross border operations or a shift to other states. Also, Plan and Partners have reserved budget for crisis modifiers to respond to crises that may happen in other states such as Kassala, Gedaref and While Nile.

There are six expected outcomes and eighteen corresponding outputs within this project, spread over three different sectors. 

Protection:
1. Improved protection access of vulnerable children and adolescents through comprehensive age-appropriate case management, Family Tracing and Reunification, alternative care and economic support including safe referrals to specialized services.
Contributing to this outcome are the following six outputs:
- Vulnerable children and adolescents supported with comprehensive age-appropriate case management (3 years)
- Staff, volunteers, partners and stakeholders trained on CPiE and GBV essential topics including child marriage,  revised minimum standards, Information management and data protection, care and support for child survivors of SGBV facilitated jointly with sub working groups 
- PSS facilitators trained on PSS concept, group level activities, PFA and gender appropriate responses
- Foster caregivers trained on foster care guidelines, alternative care, GBV prevention
- Families and children involved in the Family Care Protection Unit (FCPU) are supported 
- Engage and Support the child protection committees
1.2 Improved psychosocial well-being for vulnerable children adolescent and their families affected by the crisis through access to age-appropriate, gender transformative PSS activities, structured and non-structured life skills programs.
Contributing to this outcome are the following three outputs:
- Children and adolescents who participated in structured and non-structured PSS activities to enhance their coping mechanism, resilience and wellbeing
- Adolescent and children participated in  peace building  mainstreaming  activities through PSS
- Parents and Adolescents participate in Life skills programme
1.3 Empowerment of adolescent girls and young women through improved prevention of and response to violence  and SRHR.
Contributing to this outcome are the following three outputs:
- Married girls and caregivers participated in roll out girls shine program
- Adolescent girls in humanitarian settings, equipped with skills and knowledge to identify types of GBV and seek support services if they experience or are at risk of GBV
- Adolescents girls and young mothers are supported with dignity kits and share information about perversion, response and reporting of GBV issues

FSL:
2.1 Vulnerable IDPs, host communities have improved livelihoods through access to basic food basket ,  and improved crop production to sustain their families.
Contributing to this outcome is the following output:
- Vulnerable farmers especially, PWD, IDPs, and Host communities have improved access to crop production farming inputs
2.2  Vulnerable  IDPS, PWD and host communities especially youth and women have improved income through saving and small business activities.
Contributing to this outcome are the following two outputs:
- Vulnerable people especially PWD among, IDPs, and Host communities are supported with business management skills
- Vulnerable women, PWD, IDPs, and Host communities have improved knowledge in running VSLA's

WASH:
3. Access to quality WASH services to people in need, specifically vulnerable ones like PWD, IDPs, and Host communities is improved through minimize the impacts of humanitarian emergencies in WASH sector for vulnerable people in the targeted location.
Contributing to this outcome are the following three outputs:
- Vulnerable people especially PWD, IDPs, and Host communities have increased access to safe, clean and sustainable water
- Vulnerable people especially children, PWD, IDPs, and Host communities have improved access to sanitation facilities
- Vulnerable communities especially adolescents’ girls are supported to adopt positive hygiene practices