IOM has begun drilling the first of four boreholes and installing
two water storage tanks, each with a capacity of 45,000 litres, to
provide adequate and safe drinking water to an estimated 42,000
Sudanese refugees at Doro camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile
State.

An estimated 107,000 people have entered South Sudan’s
Upper Nile State and are now living in three main refugee
camps:  Doro, Jamam and Yusif Batil.  There are also an
estimated 10,000 refugees remaining at the Kilo 18 transit site
close to the border with Sudan.

Doro, the largest of the three camps, is 20 km southeast of
Yusif Batil camp, which was recently established to receive 23,000
new arrivals from the Kilo 18 transit site. UNHCR has transported
2,000–3,000 refugees from Kilo 18 to Yusif Batil during the
current relocation operation.

An estimated 10,000 refugees are living in the open and under
trees in Yusif Batil, waiting for tents and emergency shelter
materials which are being flown from Juba and Nairobi into Maban by
UNHCR.  IOM is supporting partners at the camp with water
storage tanks, latrine slabs, piping and motorized pumps.

The main challenges facing all the camps include addressing the
critical water gaps, together with meeting the non food relief item
(NFI) and shelter needs of the steady influx of refugees.

IOM is responsible for the water and sanitation services to
refugees in Doro camp. Initially IOM delivered water by truck to
outlying areas of the camp in order to reduce the 2km walk for
households to access safe water, but trucking has become
increasingly difficult due to heavy rains. 

In a shift in strategy, IOM has started work on four planned
boreholes for communities that are located far from existing water
sources. Drilling equipment has been mobilized and drilling work
has begun on the first of four boreholes.

Currently, IOM and partners supply 520,800 liters of water daily
to the refugees in Doro. Each refugee receives 12.4 litres of safe
drinking water per day.  With the installation of two 45,000
litre storage tanks, IOM projects that the daily supply of water
will increase from 12.4 to 14 liters per person per day.

IOM will continue installing the remaining seven storage tanks
for a total of nine storage tanks which will enable the supply to
each person of 20 liters of water per day.  Once the boreholes
are completed, the supply will increase further.

IOM’s responsibilities at Doro camp include drilling
boreholes, installation of water storage tanks, motorizing the
pumps, installation and rehabilitation of tap stands and boreholes,
construction and decommissioning of family and communal latrines,
construction of bathing shelters, hygiene promotion, and
distribution of water filters and soap.

To date IOM has completed the construction of 736 family
latrines, 745 communal latrines and 810 bathing shelters. It has
installed three water distribution systems and trained 10 water
management committees and 1,146 latrine management committee
members. Some 24,000 refugees have been reached through hygiene
promotion. IOM has prepositioned sufficient equipment to continue
to provide water and sanitation services to refugees settled in
Doro through the rainy season. 

The new arrivals are mostly women and children who say they were
forced to leave their homes because of the conflict and lack of
food.  In Doro camp new arrivals are directed to villages
where members of their former communities from Blue Nile State have
set up.  The sheiks responsible for each village work with
Relief International (Camp Management), which liaises with UNHCR
for registration and WFP for food distribution.

Humanitarian agencies in South Sudan have no access to Blue Nile
State, and there is little information about the number of refugees
still attempting to cross into South Sudan. 

IOM continues to support UNHCR with the relocation of refugees
from border areas to camps, and in transporting cargo from Juba to
Upper Nile state with barge and boat movements – the only way
to move assets to field operations during the rainy
season. 

At the onset of the refugee response IOM appealed for USD 10
million in order to respond to emerging needs. While refugee
volumes in Upper Nile State continue to grow, to date, IOM has
received USD 2 million worth of contributions to its operations
from the United States and EUR 1.5 million from the government of
Italy. 

For more information, please contact

Samantha Donkin

IOM Juba

Tel: + 211 922 406 728

Email: "mailto:sdonkin@iom.int">sdonkin@iom.int