Rapid Needs Assessment - Tawila Locality, 13 August 2025

Background:

El Fasher, North Darfur, has been under siege and affected by continuous fighting for 15 months, leading to extreme levels of needs, severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies. Recent escalations forced over 12,000 households to flee to Tawila in July 2025, adding to more than 300,000 displaced since April, where they rely on overstretched humanitarian assistance and host communities amid growing protection risks. The crisis is further compounded by a cholera outbreak, with over 5,000 cases reported in overcrowded IDP camps lacking adequate water, sanitation, and health services. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), as part of the ECHO-funded Cash Consortium of Sudan (CCS), conducted a rapid needs assessment in Tawila on 13 August to gain an understanding of the situation on the ground and to assess the needs of the IDP households. A total of 41 Internally IDP households were interviewed in Tawila.

The key findings include:

• 98% of households report being unable to meet their basic needs.
• The vast majority of IDP households report barriers to returning to their area of origin, leading to 60% of households planning to remain in Tawila.
• Food, shelter and NFIs were reported as the top 3 priority needs.
• Food insecurity is the most urgent and cross-cutting issue with 100% of households reporting difficulties accessing food – this is strongly linked to lack of income, limited livelihoods, and de­pendency on aid.
• Shelter, WASH and health vulnerabilities are interconnected: overcrowding increases hygiene risks, which are exacerbated by lack of soap and water access barriers.
• Protection risks may be understated even with low reported unsafe areas, the presence of fire­wood/fuel collection risks indicates exposure to GBV threats, especially for women and girls.
• Cash assistance preference suggests market reliance; however, reports of market inaccessibility and unavailability raise concerns about its feasibility without parallel market support.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The assessment found that IDPs are in urgent need of assistance, with the top priority needs being food, shelter and NFIs. It is therefore recommended to implement immediate life-saving activities to address the iden­tified needs. Based on the findings of the assessment, the following recommendations need to be considered:

• Mix of MPCA and in-kind assistance to address basic needs: while the majority of IDP house-holds noted a preference for cash or voucher assistance which will give them the flexibility to meet their immediate needs in a flexible way while supporting local traders and stimulating the economy, in-kind assistance is also required considering market constraints and the urgent need to water and hygiene items to combat the spread of cholera.
• Shelter/NFIs: distribution of basic NFIs including kitchen sets, sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets and jerry cans, as well as shelter supplies to enable households to build or reinforce their shelters, es­pecially notable during the rainy season.
• WASH: the results indicate serious latrine access issues as well as poor hygiene practices which align with the ongoing cholera outbreak. It is recommended that humanitarian partners increase water truck­ing, construct emergency latrines and provide hygiene kits which should be complemented by hygiene promotion, as well as menstrual hygiene management kits for women and girls.
• Health and nutrition: the high levels of food insecurity could lead to malnutrition especially amongst children and pregnant and lactating women. Access to health services needs to be made available by activating increasing the number of facilities available, including cholera treatments centers, to provide immediate health services to IDPs.
• Protection: implement protection interventions including regular protection monitoring, provision of In­dividual Protection Assistance (IPA), and Psychological First Aid (PFA)

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