CFPs: Supporting Access to Quality Health and Nutrition Services for Displaced Persons (Sudan)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is inviting expressions of interest from qualified organizations to support health and nutrition services for refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and host communities in North Kordofan, Sudan. The initiative focuses on strengthening primary health care, improving health equity, supporting disease prevention and outbreak preparedness, and integrating displaced populations into national and local health systems.

The call is aligned with Sudan’s Health Sector Recovery and Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and promotes a resilient, people-centered health system based on Primary Health Care (PHC) and progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

UNHCR Sudan Health and Nutrition Services Call: Overview

The initiative seeks capable partners that can deliver quality, accessible, and inclusive health and nutrition services to displaced and host populations in North Kordofan.

Key priorities include:

• Primary health care services
• Nutrition screening and management
• Maternal and reproductive health
• Malaria prevention and treatment
• TB and HIV services
• Mental health and psychosocial support
• Non-communicable disease management
• Disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness
• Emergency health services for new arrivals
• Community health worker capacity building
• Referral systems for secondary and specialized care
• Medicines and medical supplies management
• Integration of refugee health services into national systems

Why Does This Health Initiative Matter?

Sudan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis has placed significant pressure on health systems and increased the vulnerability of displaced populations and host communities.

The initiative seeks to move beyond fragmented emergency health responses toward government-led and nationally owned health services.

This approach is intended to improve:

• Health equity.
• Continuity of care.
• Access to essential health services.
• Health-system resilience.
• Disease prevention and surveillance.
• Community participation.
• Emergency preparedness.
• Integration of refugees and stateless people into national health systems.

By strengthening local health systems rather than creating parallel structures, the program aims to support more sustainable health outcomes.

Who Will Benefit?

The health and nutrition interventions are intended to benefit several population groups in North Kordofan, including:

• Refugees.
• Asylum-seekers.
• Internally displaced persons.
• Returnees.
• Stateless people.
• Host communities.
• New arrivals requiring emergency health services.
• Vulnerable individuals requiring specialized care.

Particular attention will be given to people facing barriers to accessing essential health services.

What Are the Main Objectives?

The initiative has several interconnected objectives.

Strengthen Primary Health Care

Partners will support accessible and quality primary health care services covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, referral, and follow-up.

Improve Health-System Resilience

The program will strengthen local health capacity and support national and state-level systems to respond to routine health needs as well as emergencies.

Promote Universal Health Coverage

The initiative contributes to the goal of ensuring that people can access essential health services without being excluded because of displacement or vulnerability.

Integrate Refugees Into National Health Systems

UNHCR emphasizes integration of refugees and stateless people into strengthened national and local health structures rather than relying exclusively on separate humanitarian systems.

Strengthen Health Security

Activities will include disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, prevention, and response to emerging health threats.

Key Health and Nutrition Activities

Selected partners may be expected to implement a broad range of health interventions.

Primary Health Care Services

Comprehensive primary health care may include:

• General outpatient services.
• Preventive health services.
• Malaria services.
• Tuberculosis services.
• HIV-related services.
• Nutrition screening.
• Anaemia prevention.
• Sexual and reproductive health services.
• Mental health and psychosocial support.
• Non-communicable disease management.

Services should be accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of displaced and host populations.

Nutrition Services

Nutrition activities may include identifying individuals at risk of malnutrition and linking them with appropriate treatment and referral services.

Nutrition interventions are particularly important for vulnerable populations, including children and other groups affected by food insecurity and displacement.

Malaria Prevention and Treatment

Partners will contribute to malaria prevention, detection, treatment, and community-level awareness as part of comprehensive primary health care.

TB and HIV Services

The program supports continued access to tuberculosis and HIV-related prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and referral services.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Health services will incorporate sexual and reproductive health needs, helping ensure that vulnerable populations can access appropriate care.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

Mental health and psychosocial support will be linked with broader health and protection services.

The approach recognizes that displacement, conflict, loss, and insecurity can create significant psychosocial needs.

Non-Communicable Diseases

Partners will also support the management of non-communicable diseases where relevant, helping people maintain access to essential treatment and follow-up care.

Emergency Health Services

The initiative includes support for people arriving in new locations and other populations requiring urgent health assistance.

Partners may be required to provide or facilitate services at:

• Refugee camps.
• Points of entry.
• Transit centers.
• Reception centers.
• Other relevant health service locations.

Emergency services should be linked with appropriate referral mechanisms so that people requiring higher-level care can access it promptly.

Community Health and Disease Surveillance

Community-based health systems are an important component of the initiative.

Partners will support:

• Community health worker training.
• Community-based disease prevention.
• Health awareness.
• Early identification of health risks.
• Disease surveillance.
• Community participation.
• Referral and follow-up.
• Outbreak preparedness.

Community health workers can help connect health facilities with communities and improve early detection of emerging health problems.

Health Workforce Capacity Building

The program recognizes that qualified and adequately supported health workers are essential for sustainable service delivery.

Potential activities include:

• Training health workers.
• Supporting community health workers.
• Technical capacity development.
• Mentoring.
• Supportive supervision.
• Strengthening service delivery systems.
• Improving coordination between health facilities and communities.

Referral to Secondary and Specialized Care

Not every health condition can be managed through primary health care.

Partners are therefore expected to help establish or maintain effective referral pathways to:

• Secondary health facilities.
• Specialized health services.
• Emergency care.
• Diagnostic services.
• Other appropriate levels of treatment.

Timely referrals can reduce delays in accessing appropriate medical care.

Protection, GBV and Mental Health Linkages

The initiative recognizes that health needs are closely connected with protection risks.

Partners should support effective links between:

• Health services.
• Protection services.
• Gender-based violence (GBV) response.
• Mental health and psychosocial support.
• Community-based protection mechanisms.

This integrated approach helps ensure that people with complex needs can access appropriate services without unnecessary barriers.

Medicines and Medical Supplies Management

Effective health services require reliable availability and management of medicines and medical supplies.

Partners will need appropriate systems for:

• Procurement or supply coordination where applicable.
• Storage.
• Distribution.
• Stock monitoring.
• Inventory management.
• Avoiding stock-outs.
• Ensuring appropriate use of medical supplies.

Strong supply-chain management contributes to continuity and quality of care.

Who Is Eligible?

The call is intended for organizations that can demonstrate the technical and operational capacity required to provide health services in Sudan.

Eligible organizations should be able to demonstrate:

• Experience delivering health care services.
• Capacity to work in refugee camps and displacement settings.
• Ability to operate at points of entry, transit, or reception centers where required.
• Experience supporting vulnerable and displaced populations.
• Qualified health personnel and technical capacity.
• Community health programming experience.
• Ability to coordinate with government authorities.
• Capacity to work with UNHCR.
• Appropriate monitoring and reporting systems.
• Ability to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and other relevant stakeholders.

Applicants should demonstrate that they can deliver services safely, inclusively, and consistently within the operational context of North Kordofan.

How the Partnership Will Work

Selected organizations are expected to work closely with UNHCR and government health authorities.

The partnership model emphasizes:

1. Government coordination: Aligning interventions with national and local health priorities.
2. UNHCR coordination: Working with UNHCR on refugee protection and health priorities.
3. Community engagement: Involving affected communities in health planning and service delivery.
4. Health-system strengthening: Building local capacity rather than creating unnecessary parallel systems.
5. Integrated services: Linking health, nutrition, protection, GBV, and mental health interventions.
6. Referral systems: Ensuring patients can access higher-level care when necessary.
7. Monitoring: Tracking service delivery and health outcomes.

How to Prepare an Expression of Interest

Organizations interested in responding should first assess whether they have the operational capacity required for health programming in Sudan.

A strong expression of interest should clearly demonstrate:

• Relevant health-sector experience.
• Experience working with refugees, IDPs, returnees, or host communities.
• Knowledge of the North Kordofan context.
• Qualified technical and health personnel.
• Experience with primary health care.
• Community health and outreach capacity.
• Emergency response capability.
• Disease surveillance experience.
• Nutrition programming capacity.
• Referral and case-management systems.
• Coordination experience with government institutions.
• Monitoring, reporting, and accountability mechanisms.

Applicants should ensure that their proposed approach is realistic and aligned with Sudan’s national health priorities.

Important Considerations for Applicants

Organizations should consider the following before submitting an expression of interest:

• Demonstrate actual implementation capacity rather than only theoretical expertise.
• Clearly explain experience in humanitarian or displacement settings.
• Show how services will be accessible to vulnerable groups.
• Explain how refugee and host-community needs will be addressed together.
• Demonstrate coordination with health authorities.
• Include community-based approaches where appropriate.
• Explain referral pathways for specialized care.
• Integrate protection and gender considerations into health programming.
• Demonstrate appropriate medicines and supplies management.
• Align proposed activities with national health strategies.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Applicants should avoid:

• Submitting a generic health proposal without a Sudan-specific approach.
• Failing to demonstrate previous health service delivery experience.
• Ignoring the needs of displaced and host populations.
• Treating health services separately from protection and psychosocial needs.
• Providing unrealistic staffing or implementation plans.
• Failing to explain referral mechanisms.
• Ignoring disease surveillance and outbreak preparedness.
• Overlooking medicines and medical supply management.
• Failing to demonstrate coordination with government health authorities.
• Underestimating the logistical challenges of delivering services in displacement settings.

Key Terms to Understand

Primary Health Care (PHC): Essential health services delivered close to communities, covering prevention, treatment, health promotion, and basic referral.

Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Ensuring people can access needed health services without facing financial hardship or exclusion.

Forcibly Displaced Persons (FDPs): People who have been forced to leave their homes because of conflict, persecution, violence, disasters, or other serious threats.

Community Health Workers: Community-based personnel who help connect communities with health services, promote prevention, identify health risks, and support referrals.

Health Security: The ability of health systems and communities to prevent, detect, prepare for, and respond to health emergencies and outbreaks.

FAQ

What is the UNHCR Sudan Health and Nutrition Services Call?

It is a call for expressions of interest from organizations capable of supporting quality health and nutrition services for refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs, returnees, and host communities in North Kordofan, Sudan.

Who are the target beneficiaries?

The program targets refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, returnees, stateless people, and vulnerable members of host communities.

What types of health services are supported?

Supported areas include primary health care, malaria, TB/HIV, nutrition screening, anaemia prevention, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and psychosocial support, non-communicable disease management, emergency services, disease surveillance, and referrals.

Can organizations provide services in refugee camps?

Yes. Eligible partners should demonstrate the capacity to deliver health services in refugee camps, points of entry, transit centers, and reception centers, as relevant to the intervention.

Does the initiative support community health workers?

Yes. Capacity building for community health workers is an important component, including training and strengthening community-based prevention, surveillance, and health promotion.

Will partners work with the Sudanese Ministry of Health?

Yes. The initiative emphasizes collaboration with UNHCR, the Ministry of Health, and other relevant stakeholders and seeks to strengthen government-led and nationally owned health systems.

What is the main long-term goal of the initiative?

The broader goal is to improve health equity, resilience, and health security by integrating displaced populations into strengthened national and local health systems while expanding sustainable access to quality primary and specialized health care.

Conclusion

The UNHCR Sudan Health and Nutrition Services initiative seeks capable partners to strengthen access to essential health and nutrition services for displaced and host populations in North Kordofan. Its approach combines primary health care, nutrition, disease prevention, emergency response, community health, mental health, protection linkages, and referral services.

Organizations with demonstrated health-service delivery capacity, experience working with displaced populations, strong community-based approaches, and the ability to coordinate with UNHCR and Sudan’s Ministry of Health are well positioned to respond. The initiative also represents a broader shift toward sustainable, nationally owned health systems that promote Universal Health Coverage, health equity, resilience, and health security.