Context

While Sudan’s security situation has improved slightly, about 1.8 million people still live in protracted displacement. Many face extreme food shortages as a result of an unstable economy and crippling inflation. Austerity measures and inflation have led to increases in the prices of basic commodities, and there have been fuel and cash shortages across parts of the country.

In December 2018, Sudan’s people organized sustained protests against the authoritarian regime of President Omar Al Bashir, forcing an end to his rule in April 2019. Despite this apparent victory, since then military groups have sharply stepped up violence against the protestors, and many human rights violations against civilians have been reported.

Sudan’s strained health infrastructure, along with the limited supply of safe water and sanitation services in some areas, are contributing to a rapidly worsening public health situation. Food security remains fragile, and many affected people rely on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic food needs. Sudan is also vulnerable to natural hazards such as floods and landslides.

Sudan Map

INTERVENTION

The Adolescent Kit is being used in Sudan as an educational tool linked to a life skills programme piloted for adolescents in schools.

Training sessions and an accompanying life skills manual are equipping service providers like teachers and youth workers to effectively incorporate the Kit into their engagements with adolescents. The trainers design a work plan and programme on how to use the Kit to enhance the current life skills programme.

UNICEF has signed an agreement with a local partner to lead the implementation of the life skills programme in 100 schools and centers, with the Kit as an integral resource. To better inform programme improvements, the implementing partner collected feedback from adolescents and facilitators.

The Kit’s rollout will include activities such as adolescent circles and community theatre programmes. Kits have also been distributed as part of child protection interventions to support creative expression among refugee adolescents in the White Nile region. Refugee and internally displaced adolescents are encouraged to develop innovative solutions to issues affecting their communities, and to share the challenges they face.

As the life skills programme expands, there is a need for additional quantities of the Kits, as well as additional capacity building on how to effectively use it and how to assess learning outcomes through consistent monitoring. Now that Arabic translations of the Kit are available, the Kit can have a wider reach across education and child protection programmes, including in schools, children’s clubs, among vulnerable adolescent groups.