Update on 1998 flood emergency

The emergency situation in Sudan’s flood-affected north-eastern states has stabilised and communities have been able to plant crops, OCHA-Sudan said yesterday in a situation report. Record flooding and heavy rains in August/September 1998 affected about one million people, of whom over 100,000 were displaced, in 18 of Sudan’s 26 states and resulted in a dramatic increase in the incidence of water-borne diseases. The report said UN agencies, the Red Cross Movement and national authorities had carried out much of the initial emergency response.

WFP provided food aid, UNICEF worked to improve water and sanitation conditions, WHO donated emergency health kits and FAO bought seeds for affected farming communities, it said, adding that UNHCR, OCHA, UNFPA and UNDP also contributed. Sudan has also received some US $35 million in bilateral donations in response to a US $230-million flood-recovery and rehabilitation plan formulated in November 1998 by a multi-agency assessment team, the report added. Donors include the Saudi Fund, the Islamic Development Bank and the Japanese government.