Ideas on Developing a Strategy for Resettlement of Internally -Displaced People in Sudanese Cities (Housing Situation in Post-War Cities)

Sumaia Jamie

Facilitator

November 7, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30

Multipurpose room 20

National Council of Urban Development

Sudan

English

Reference:

NE 20-07

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

The phenomenon of Internally-displacement people (IDPs) in Sudan began at the beginning of the eighties of the last century in the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and part of the eastern states due to drought and desertification. The outbreak of armed conflict in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile was also accompanied by a of large numbers of (IDPs) moved up to Khartoum and around the major cities, which affected the demographic composition and created a pressure and a severe shortage of basic services and housing.
The war that broke out in Sudan recently between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the rebel Rapid Support militias on April15 of last year, and which continues until now, led to the displacement of more than 73% of the population of the capital, Khartoum, and more than 50% of the population of the city of Wad Madani, and the number of displaced people rose up to16 million citizens. large number of residents of the cities of Darfur were Displaced from El Geneina, Nyala and El Fasher, 67% of the population crossed the border into Chad, where the number of refugees rose to 2 million refugees.
About eight states were affected by the military operations, but the greatest destruction was in El Geneina and then Khartoum State, where 33,000 homes were destroyed (Sudan Tribune).
The housing and settlement project for the IDPs in Sudan is considered one of the biggest challenges facing the whole country. Therefore, the national government sought to tackle the problem. The National Council for Urban Development is in the process of preparing an integrated strategy to address displacement issues and to reconstruct areas destroyed by conflicts throughout Sudan, entitled: (Towards sustainable reconstruction to enable the resettlement of the IDPs in Sudan).
The strategy aims to:
1. Promoting strategic urban development plans for cities affected by displacement and the capitals of all the localities that help improve access to housing, basic services, infrastructure, and the potential for developing the local economy.
2. involving community participation in the various planning stages, which leads to local communities’ real sense of ownership of the projects resulting from studies, which leads to sustainability.
3. Strengthening the capabilities of localities and states to implement reconstruction and resettlement programs for the IDPs.
4. Developing local urban observatories to contribute to sustaining access to reliable information.
5. Creating unconventional urban development planning solutions to secure cities in the future and fortify them against urban wars.

Objectives

It is noted that the displacement camps that have been established in Darfur since 2003 are still in place, and the IDPs have suffered in El Geneina, which had more than five camps within the urban fabric of the city. As for those displaced as a result of the Khartoum War, their number was more than double the number of those displaced from Darfur, no displacement camps were established for them, but rather they joined their relatives in the places to which they were displaced. Those who could afford rented housing, and those who could not afford were housed in schools, which amounted to 1,250 schools distributed over six states.
It is expected that a significant portion will not return to their cities from which they were displaced, as they engaged in agriculture and other work (and many of the tenants vacated their homes, got rid of expensive furniture, and left with what was light and expensive.
There is another problem that the militia of Rapid Support Forces occupied the homes of citizens and forcibly removed some of them, and some of them brought their families and settled during these six months.
The effects of war is awful, that the destruction is great, especially in basic services. Therefore, it is difficult for many of those who think about returning to return, especially if we add to that the security situation of post-war, as the weapons and crime spread more.