Alight is responding in both Kassala and Gedaref, including in Um Raquba refugee camp (above). Individuals in critical condition are being cared for in Alight medical facilities in Kassala, and teams are also providing clean water. In Gedaref, our protection team is working to make sure people at particular risk have the support they need – including children who have arrived from Ethiopia unaccompanied and separated from their families. We’re listening and responsive to the emerging needs of this vulnerable population.
“The Sudanese are an amazingly hospitable and generous people. And they’re doing all they can to receive and support Ethiopian families who’ve come for safe haven,” said Heidi Diedrich, Alight’s Sudan Country Director. “But with the challenges of COVID-19 and more refugees expected in Sudan, we can use all the support we can get. Food, drugs and other essentials are urgently needed.”
Many of the refugees arriving from Ethiopia are children. Alight’s teams are positioned well for this response, already actively working with tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees in Kassala state before the crisis began. And Alight leaders from around the world have deployed to the east to support this evolving humanitarian emergency.
Inside Ethiopia, access to thousands of displaced families has been too impossible or dangerous. But as access improves, Alight’s Horn of Africa team is moving into position to provide the shelter, water, and medical care people need so terribly.
