FRIENDS OF SUDAN (FOS) VOICE THEIR SUPPORT TO THE CIVILLIAN-LED GOVERNMENT: The Friends of Sudan (FOS) voiced their support to the civilian-led government at a meeting in Khartoum on 11 December and pledged to hold a donor conference in April 2020 to make concrete financial contributions to support the government’s economic reform efforts. UNHCR and inter-agency partners continue to advocate for the inclusion of refugees in these reforms. FOS includes 14 countries, the African Union, European Union, United Nations, the league of Arab States and three financial institutions, including the African Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION TOOL (GDT) USED TO COMPLETE FOOD DISTRIBUTION IN WHITE NILE STATE: A third cycle of the roll-out of biometric food distribution using the Global Distribution Tool (GDT) took place in November, conducted by a joint team formed by the Commissioner for Refugees (COR), UNHCR, WFP and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) in the White Nile State. The exercise was conducted in the camps of Alagaya, Dabat Bosin, Khor Al Warel, Um Sangor and Al Jameya, with a total of about 105,239 beneficiaries targeted.

SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES RELOCATION PUT ON HOLD IN EAST DARFUR: A shortage of bamboo sheets used to set-up new shelters has put on hold the relocation of South Sudanese refugees to the new extension at Kario camp in East Darfur. Situated 1.2 km away from Kario, the new extension is a recent allocated land that will accommodate 1,400 refugee households (around 4,200 individuals), including new arrivals and refugees heavily affected by floods, in order to reducing the overcrowding of Kario camp.

TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF SUDAN ALLOWS EXPELLED NGOS TO RETURN: The Transitional Government of Sudan has allowed international NGOs that were expelled by the previous regime in 2009 to re-register in Sudan. At the same time, the Federal Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) issued decisions regarding the deregistration of 58 national non-government organizations perceived to be linked to the previous regime. These developments might affect the capacity of partners to provide humanitarian relief to South Sudanese refugees in Sudan

PILOT SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING PROGRAM LAUNCHED IN SOUTH DARFUR: World Vision International (WVI) together with the national NGO National Humanitarian Aid Organization (NaHA) launched a pilot supplementary feeding program by distributing food vouchers to the refugee community in El Radom settlement in South Darfur, targeting 8,000 refugees and 2,000 members of the host community. The program aims to complement the general food distribution (GFD) with additional items, focusing on supporting people with special needs, particularly children. The program will continue up to March 2020 as pilot project for El Radom settlement.