WPHF - (Geneva) — The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) announced the launch of its latest emergency funding appeal to mobilize urgently-needed financing for local women’s organizations leading the humanitarian response to the deadly violence in Sudan, aiming to ensure the safety and protection of women and girls across the country.

On April 15, 2023, during a proposed transition to civilian rule, heavy fighting erupted in Khartoum and other cities across Sudanbetween the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 400 people have been killed and more than 3,700 have been injured as of 21 April.

As a result of the ongoing fighting, humanitarian spaces and government premises, hospitals, universities, and private businesses in Sudan have been subject to looting, hampering the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid to vulnerable people, forcing thousands to flee their homes, and exacerbating an already difficult humanitarian situation in which women and girls are bearing the brunt of violence, abuse, and discrimination. From the onset of the conflict, however, women have been serving as first responders on the ground, organizing themselves to identify the needs of their communities, deliver humanitarian assistance, and use technology to identify ‘save’ routes.

In the face of this rapidly evolving situation, it is essential that women civil society leaders and their local organizations are supported to act at the forefront of the humanitarian response in Sudan in order to ensure gender-inclusive and sustainable responses to the country’s growing needs.

“Civil society organizations led by Sudanese women have demonstrated unwavering leadership in effective humanitarian response,” said Ghita El Khyari, Head of the United Nations WPHF Secretariat. “The women of Sudan must be adequately financed as key actors on the front lines of this rapidly escalating crisis.”

The WPHF emergency funding appeal for Sudan will mobilize up to 10M USD to support local women’s organizations working across two priority areas: Promoting the participation and leadership of women in planning and responding to humanitarian crises, and Enhancing the safety, security and mental health of women and girls and their human rights respected.

The first phase of WPHF’s emergency response in Sudan will rapidly channel funding to pre-identified local women’s civil society organizations on the ground, followed by an open Call for Proposals to mobilize women’s organizations that can respond to the crisis and the specific needs of women and girls.

The Call for Proposals will make available financing for civil society organizations that build the resilience of Sudanese women and girls through programmatic funding from 30,000 to 200,000 USD, and institutional funding to help sustain and strengthen women’s organizations throughout the crisis with grants from 2,500 USD to 30,000 USD.

Originally published on wphfund.org