The United Nations today allocated $21 million to provide life-saving food support, nutrition, water and sanitation, health and other assistance to thousands of Sudanese in newly accessible areas in Darfur's Jebel Marra area, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

“Our response will address both the immediate needs through emergency, life-saving assistance and strengthen resilience of the most vulnerable and their communities to future and recurring shocks," said Marta Ruedas, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.

The funds come from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF), which is comprised of donor funds and overseen by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The funding will allow humanitarian agencies to support vulnerable people in these areas where access was previously limited.

In a statement from OCHA, the UN said that acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) cases and the continuing influx of refugees from South Sudan have been straining available resources and increasing pressure on the limited basic services in the targeted areas where funding is now headed.

The announcement of the funds comes days after the former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O'Brien released $45 million from CERF to Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad and Sudan.