November 15th, 2018: European Union and Italy: Committed to strengthen health and WASH services delivery in Eastern Sudan

The Delegation of the European Union to Sudan, the Embassy of Italy together with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, reconfirms their leading role in health, sanitation and access to safe water by launching two projects - at the Sudan National Museum – the most comprehensive Nubian archaeological collection in the world - tackling migrants, IDPs and host communities in Eastern Sudan.

Fostering the quality of Primary and Reproductive Health Care, nutrition services and promoting the access to safe water and sanitation for the most vulnerable communities are the keys goals of the two initiatives in Kassala, Gedaref and Red Sea funded by the EU and implemented by the Italian Cooperation States for a total amount of 14 million Euros.

The two initiatives invest in capacity building and in promoting the community involvement and awareness raising on health risks and behaviors as well as encouraging hygiene and sanitation, in partnership with Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Water and Irrigation both at Federal and State levels.

Access to water, sanitation and health services in these areas is critically low. In addition, those areas affected by displaced population, flows of refugees have further reduced communities’ capacity to cope, resulting in an increased demand on the health services and an insufficient water supply, lack of access to drinking water sources and inadequate sanitation and hygiene practices, stated the Italian Ambassador, Fabrizio Lobasso. Our main goal – he affirms – is to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of our actions. Italy will be accountable to the People of Sudan and we will work together with our counterparts in order to provide much needed health and wash care to vulnerable population by creating successful models that could be replicated all over Sudan. Our joint interventions are in line with the SDG’s 3 and SDG’s 6 aimed at respectively ensuring healthy lives and well-being at all ages and ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, concluded the Ambassador.

Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Sudan, said that   the EU has been and is a major provider of humanitarian assistance to Sudan. The EU and its Member States agree with the Government of Sudan that we have to move towards more longer-term, development cooperation. In the European Union we call this the “Humanitarian -Development Nexus”. Sudan is a pilot country of the EU Humanitarian -Development Nexus. We are currently identifying new programmes in the context of the Humanitarian-Development Nexus and I expect we will conclude a new joint programme on health with the Italian Cooperation next year."

Click here to download the video realised by Michele Pasquale and Yassir Amir
Click here  to download the video realised by Alaa Satir
Click here to download the booklet of the projects