Sudan - A new Rapid Response Fund (RRF) grant of USD 202,230 has been allocated to the NGO Triangle Génération Humanitaire (TGH) to provide emergency shelters and non-food relief items to over 1,400 vulnerable families recently displaced from Chad to the Um Dukhun locality in Central Darfur. The RRF is a USAID/OFDA emergency funding mechanism managed by IOM designed to respond to the most urgent needs of newly displaced populations. With the rainy season just starting in Um Dukhun, this group urgently needed help. Without it, many would have to sleep outdoors in the wet and cold, risking illnesses including malaria, upper respiratory tract infections and skin diseases. The RRF will provide 700 of the most vulnerable families with emergency shelters and 700 families with emergency non-food items (NFI) such as jerry cans, cooking sets, blankets, sleeping mats and plastic sheeting just before the rainy season. Since their arrival in Central Darfur between January and April 2016, these people, who have been displaced several times since 2014, have been particularly vulnerable. An IOM assessment found that the group included many single, female-headed households, unaccompanied minors and elderly people. It also found that they had not received any emergency assistance during their years of displacement. Due to repeated displacement, the group had lost almost all of their household items (such as cooking pots and jerry cans to hold water) and many are now living in makeshift shelters, constructed from leaking plastic sheeting and wooden poles, that do not provide protection from the rain and the cold. Those without access to plastic sheeting are sharing overcrowded shelters with relatives, with an average of 7-10 people sharing one small space designed to hold a maximum of five people. The RRF has been managed by IOM since 2013. To date it has disbursed over US $ 2.4 million to assist over 1,050,000 vulnerable individuals with emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, shelter, NFIs and protective interventions. TGH has been implementing WASH; FSL and NFI emergency and early recovery programs in Sudan, and more specifically in West and Central Darfur States, since 2004. For further information, please contact Lisa Lim Ah Ken at IOM Sudan, Tel: +249-9224-066023, Email: llimahken@iom.int