On Jan. 9, 2011, the people of southern Sudan voted in an historic referendum on whether to remain part of the north or to form a new country. The final results of the vote are expected to be announced in mid-February. Since October, more than 182,000 southern Sudanese living in the north have made the multi-day journey south.

Nearly 50,000 of those returnees from Khartoum have already arrived in government-organized convoys in Unity State. While many returnees continue on to their homes and families in southern Sudan, many require assistance and health care along the way.

In addition to our ongoing activities in Unity State, we are helping the returnees by:

• providing medical treatment through the CARE mobile clinic
• providing heath care for pregnant women, including vaccinations
• providing antenatal care for new mothers
• providing mosquito nets to new mothers and their babies
• vaccinating children for polio, measles and tuberculosis
• educating people about measles, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and the WHO.

We have pre-positioned relief items so we are able to respond immediately if more people arrive in need of aid. We have already released US$136,000 (100,000€) from our emergency fund, and are appealing for a further US$500,000 to provide relief items such as medical supplies, water purification tablets, mosquito nets, and nutritional supplements for malnourished children.

CARE has worked in Sudan since 1979. In the south, we operate rehabilitation and development activities in water and sanitation, peacebuilding, health, and livelihoods. For more details, see the factsheet here. In the north, we are represented by CARE International Switzerland (CIS), with activities in water and sanitation, hygiene education, primary health care, nutrition and livelihoods support. For the factsheet on northern Sudan, click here.

Read about Martha, a mother of 4 who gave birth to a baby girl this January in southern Sudan here: Coming Home