Sudan: Western Darfur - Supporting the elderly in IDP camps

KEY FACTS

Newly arriving IDPs often come with nothing having fled violence or having lost everything along the way

This programme of support provides both shelter and non-food support to over 7,600 elderly IDPs and their families

Darfur, like every other conflict, affects all those living there but women, children and the elderly face specific hardships. WJR has undertaken to work with these particularly vulnerable groups to try and ease their suffering during the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.

WJR, through its partner organisation, will work with elderly IDPs (Internally Displaced People) around Geneina town in Western Darfur close to the Chad border where hundreds of newly displaced people continue to trickle into IDP camps. This flow is caused in part by a continuation of attacks on villages but also due to the increasing difficulty in supplying the smaller IDP camps with humanitarian aid. People are also returning from Chad and entering these camps requiring assistance and support.

Newly arriving IDPs often come with nothing having fled violence or having lost everything along the way. The elderly are particularly vulnerable since their ability to carry possessions and to move quickly is reduced. This programme of support provides both shelter and non-food aid to over 7,600 elderly IDPs and their families while they find their feet and adapt to life in the camps.

Not only do the elderly face difficulties in getting to the camps but once there life continues to be hard as they struggle to get themselves put on the right lists to ensure they receive everything to which they are entitled. In addition, the elderly, if in need of medical assistance, are taken to hospital by a donkey ambulance funded, in part, by WJR.