Telling the ECSA Story

A refugee who recently arrived in Adre, Ouaddai province, interviews conducted by CARE staff and meetings with community leaders. CARE N'Djamena, Chad 25 May 2023 - With the conflict in Sudan in its fifth week, CARE is deeply concerned about the impact the violence has had on hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people, especially women, and children, forced to flee their homes amid the violence. This includes over 90,000 refugees , who according to UNHCR and the Government of Chad, have fled to Chad to save their lives. Dr. Amadou Bocoum, CARE Chad Country Director said: “Alongside our partners, we have noted that 90% of the refugees crossing over daily are women and children. By the time they arrive, they have endured extreme hardship not only from their journey but also from the situation they left at home. Many arrive hungry, thirsty, and in need of immediate medical attention and other basic necessities. We are working alongside other humanitarian actors to support those c...

With over 600 people dead, 5,100 injured, approximately 730,000 displaced, and few health centers operational, the dire situation in Sudan is getting worse, with growing health and hunger concerns. The conflict threatens the planting season which is set to begin at the end of May. If the season is missed, the number of people going hungry —at 11 million or 25 percent of the population prior to the current crisis—will increase. Before the conflict, one out of four people in Sudan was going to bed hungry. This additional (and imminent) threat to Sudan’s food system will impact women the most, a reality underscored by a recent analysis by CARE Sudan that found gender imbalances in the country’s existing hunger crises. David Macdonald, CARE Sudan Country Director, said, “With the ongoing crisis, women are eating less. Before the current crisis, 42% of households headed by women had less food compared to 31% of male-headed households. Women are key in the food production chain and with...

A woman refugee with her child who recently arrived in Adre, Ouaddai province. CARE   N’Djamena, Chad 28 th April 2023 - Over the last several days in Chad, community leaders in the Sudan-Chad border region have told CARE that the region has received more than 42,000 refugees. This number is expected to grow in the coming days as the conflict in Sudan continues. The refugees are arriving in the villages bordering Chad, some with a few essential items of luggage and others not at all because of the pressure and stress. They settle in the open area or in huts made with millet stalks. Most of those arriving at the border are women and children.   Soumaiya*, a divorced woman with eight children to support arrived in Chad on 20 th April 2023. "When the conflict reached my hometown, the civilians were left vulnerable. As a result, many preferred to leave the village. My family and I left the village at one o'clock in the morning to cross over to the Chadian side.  We made ...

  Some of the refugees who have recently arrived in Adre, Ouaddai province, with the CARE staff and meetings with community leaders. CARE Statement from Kate Maina-Vorley, CARE Regional Director for Eastern and Central Africa, on the ongoing conflict in Sudan:  “The current ceasefire comes as a welcome reprieve for Sudanese citizens, and we urge all parties in this tragic conflict to maintain a much-needed peace. CARE teams in Chad are already working closely with our partners to respond to the incoming Sudanese refugees, the majority of whom are women and children. In Sudan, we have relocated our staff to safe places, and thankfully all are safe and accounted for. We remain committed to supporting Sudan at this terrible time, and with a severe increase in cases of violence against women, alongside access to reproductive healthcare being severely compromised, we are working alongside our humanitarian partners to support access to midwives and psychosocial support to Sudan...

  Reported Cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) are increasing in Zambia. According to Zambia Police Third Quarter of 2022 GBV Report, there has been over a 100% (8,790) increase in the GBV cases reported in the third quarter of 2022 as compared to 4,042 cases reported during the same period in 2021. Of the reported cases 76% (6,683) were women and girls.   Chikwe Mbweeda, CARE Zambia Country Director said, “The increased number of GBV cases reported can be attributed to people becoming more aware of GBV and gaining confidence in the reporting systems on one hand; and the other, food insecurity which has been worsened by job losses, high levels of unemployment, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change effects which have left people, especially women and girls vulnerable”.    Speaking during the launch of the 16 days of activism on November 25, 2022, Hon. Brenda Tambatamba, Minister of Labor and Social Security said, violence agai...

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, hundreds of kilometers away, communities in Africa are feeling the ripple effects. Across the East, Central, and Southern Africa Region, ordinary citizens are experiencing the initial effects even as indicators, and analysts, point to even more adverse repercussions hitting the region within the next six months. In Kenya, citizens took to social media, under the hashtag #LowerFoodPrices, to vent their frustrations. In response to this, the government reverted indicating that the rising cost was a result of the conflict. While in DRC, inflation of oil, petrol, and gas prices has led to an increase in transport costs for both people and foodstuffs and this threatens CARE’s ongoing projects if the conflict is long-drawn-out. Somalia is currently in the grips of a worsening drought and the conflict in Ukraine makes the situation even more direr. The price of wheat and oil has already risen by 300%. Iman Abdullahi, CARE Somalia Country Director said, “O...

It’s a bright day in Koch, Gabriel Yatbouth-56 in white branded T-shirt, together with other members of the farmers group have gathered at the demonstration garden. This is the usual meeting place for the farmers group. Gabriel is married with 26 children and three wives. He is a businessman trading in a variety of items like sugar, sorghum, salt, and other items. Farming is a new skill that Gabriel and his group members have learnt. Koch, being a pastoral community, most of the people depend on keeping livestock for their livelihoods. Agriculture is done on a small scale. The area is however prone to flooding. Last year, the floods destroyed livelihoods causing displacements in flood affected communities aggravating the already dire humanitarian situation. To build community resilience in Koch, CARE and partners through the South Sudan Joint Response project, supported farmers like Gabriel with seeds and trained them on how to grow their own food to improve their food situation. “They...

By Ninon Ndayikengurukiye Oh Motherhood, wonders of wonders That’s what parents and elders have taught me That motherhood was precious That a smile from a newborn is Such a song that brings to the seventh heaven But I've realized it takes more than a kid’s smile to be a happy mother Oh Motherhood, river pebble Hopelessness when I realized That I did not have enough milk to breastfeed the bones of my own bones And no money to appease their hunger A great sadness lay in me, which overpowered me I break into tears and wince of sorrows In a tighter timeframe, my hopes to be a good mother darken And I realized it takes strength to fail and still stand Memory, Oh memory, Blue like this scarf with unfathomable depths that carries our pain Drown in my kids’ innocent starving eyes Unable to breastfeed them Beaten like a criminal by the father of mine I experienced long months of hospitalization Beaten for missing breast milk, Body’s milk which I’m not potter Distraught after the de...

October 1, 2018 My name is Towongo Richard, I am 23 years old from Yei, South Sudan. I married my wife in 2016 and we are blessed with a baby girl, who is now 1-year old. We started our journey to refuge in October 2017 around 6:00pm on a Sunday due to the ongoing civil war and target killings in South Sudan. Soldiers were killing people in our village without discrimination. We went about 1-mile into the bush to avoid the soldiers from the main road. I was moving with my bicycle, however it got spoiled and I had to abandon it. My wife, being very pregnant, was only able to carry some flour for cooking. We reached a water point and decided to make some food. The water tasted bitter but we were thirsty and hungry and had no choice but to use it. At around 2:00am we reached the foot of Nyangliba mountain and decided to rest there for the night. Role Model Men and Boys in training. After a couple days, we reached the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) border. We entere...

April 21, 2018 Peter Gismala “Sakata” is a South Sudanese refugee living in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Northwestern Uganda. With his wife Besta, he has two children and arrived in Uganda in August 2016. Peter Gismala, Wife Besta and Children at their home   in Ariwa Village, Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement, Arua District Uganda. “When I first reached Uganda, life was difficult and I resorted to over drinking alcohol and taking drugs like mairungi and opium as a way of coping with life at the refugee settlement. This instead made me become violent and aggressive to my family and friends. I would come home late, after 12:30am, very drunk and never cared whether the family had eaten or not. I would beat my wife whenever she tried to plead with me to come home early. Several times I came home when I had urinated and defecated on myself. Whenever my wife asked me about it, I would just beat her. My wife tried several times to advise me to change but instead I...