Japan and ILO to support environmental and socio-economic resilience of Sudan

The Government of Japan has contributed US$ 1.9 million to the ILO’s dual response to recent flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic in Khartoum, Sudan.

Press release | Khartoum, Sudan | 31 March 2021
The Government of Japan has contributed US$ 1.9 million to the ILO’s dual response to recent flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic in Khartoum, Sudan. Thanks to this contribution from Japan, the ILO will support the rehabilitation of damaged water reservoir facilities and roads with functional drainage systems, improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure.

Climate change in Sudan and unprecedented rainfall since July 2020 have resulted in an increasing number of natural disasters and widespread damage to infrastructure. As a result of recurrent flooding in Khartoum’s Mayo Suburb, for instance, more than 2,800 families have lost their homes, requiring evacuation to temporary shelters, and more than 2,000 families’ homes were partially damaged, leaving them without access to sanitary facilities. In addition, more than half of existing water pumps, which are the area’s main source of water, are currently broken. These communities need improved access to water – not only for their basic survival but also to mitigate the risk of the COVID-19.

Responding to these emerging and urgent needs, the project will allow the ILO to improve WASH infrastructure and rehabilitate access roads with drainage systems. This will link households to socio-economic facilities, while creating local jobs that allow the communities to generate immediate income and enhance their skills. The intervention will bridge the humanitarian-development-peace nexus by engaging communities from different backgrounds to rehabilitate critical infrastructure in the context of the pandemic in support of reactivating economic activities.

The ILO will also support the Ministry of Labour and Social Development (MoLSD) and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions to develop their capacity to maintain the rehabilitated infrastructure as well as to design and implement employment-intensive investments with decent work principles in the face of future shocks. This will include the knowledge transfer of GIS (Geographic Information System) accessibility mapping techniques to build up their evidence-base for intervention designs and awareness raising on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) standards. Training materials will be accessible to everyone, at any time thanks to innovative digital technologies.

“The generous contribution from the Government of Japan will lead to infrastructure development and creation of decent work opportunities for the young men and women in the Mayo community. In addition to providing short-term employment opportunities, and skills and entrepreneurship development for the community, in order to ensure sustainability, we will use the experience and lessons from this employment intensive project in the on-going development of the Sudan National Employment Policy,” said Mr. Alexio Musindo, ILO Country Office Director for Sudan.

“It is our utmost pleasure to support the activities of ILO in providing basic water and sanitation facilities for the improvement of their livelihood in Mayo community as well as building the capacity for TVET institutions, responding to the urgent appeal from the Ministry of Labour and Social Development,” said H.E. Mr Takashi HATTORI, Ambassador of Japan to Sudan. He added, “It is imperative to offer humanitarian aids to those who are at risks, but it is equally important to be aware of the Humanitarian-Development Nexus and establish an environment in which people of Sudan are well trained and develop their skills for their job opportunities.”

These activities, building on the ILO’s 48 years of experience in delivering quality infrastructure using employment-intensive methods around the world, count towards the ILO’s flagship programme on Jobs for Peace and Resilience to enhance social cohesion and disaster risk reduction through decent jobs.

The project is fully aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 8 “Decent Work and Economic growth” and Goal 6 “Water and Sanitation for All”, as well as the Yokohama Declaration of Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD) 7 and G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment.

For further details, please contact:

ILO Country Office for Sudan (located in Ethiopia): addisababa@ilo.org