KHARTOUM, Sudan –

Today, August 8, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) flew in 13,000 pieces of plastic sheeting from their emergency stocks in Dubai that will help to provide shelter for 78,000 flood affected persons in Northern Sudan. This donation is valued at approximately $500,000.

This plastic sheeting will be distributed via the NFI Common Pipeline.  To date the NFI Common Pipeline has assisted approximately 35,000 families affected by the floods and stocks had been almost completely depleted for the response until this donation.  

The NFI Common Pipeline is managed by the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC). It was originally developed to respond to displacement in Darfur in 2004 and in 2007, it was expanded to function as NFI emergency response mechanism and to support organised and spontaneous returnees in the non-Darfur areas of Northern Sudan. This joint pipeline project centralizes procurement, transport, warehousing, and delivery to distribution points of NFIs, thus reducing overhead costs and administration by creating a single supply chain.

NFIs for the Common Pipeline are procured and shipped by UNICEF, after which they are delivered to the non-governmental organisation CARE International, which acts as logistics service provider. CARE receives commodities, manages warehousing and arranges transport to state capital hubs and on to various distribution points. 

UNJLC is responsible for the overall project management, supply-chain and logistics coordination, coordination with distributing partners, NFI tracking, and reporting on activities. UNJLC also functions as the NFI and Emergency Shelter Sector Coordinator for all of Sudan.