Context
Wau POC area adjacent to UNMISS was established in June 2016, following Site location violence in and around Wau town, making it the most recently established POC in South Sudan. It is also the most congested POC in the country, with registered population of 39,165 IDPs sheltering on just 200,000 m2 of land.
Background
The Wau collective sites were established in June 2016 following violent clashes in and around Wau town. Currently there are four Collective Centers, Cathedral, Nazareth, Lokoloko and St. Joseph. Since then the protection centres have been protecting thousands of people. A fifth collective site, ECS was established in February 2017 hosting IDPs mainly from Jur River following clashes in the area. In April 2017, all IDPs were evicted from ECS and the site closed, with some IDPs being moved to Masna, 7km south of Wau town.
This Weekly Bulletin focuses on selected acute public health emergencies occurring in the WHO African Region. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 53 events in the region. This week’s edition covers key new and ongoing events, including:
Listeriosis in Namibia
Cholera in north-east Nigeria
Cholera in Malawi
Hepatitis E in Namibia
Lassa fever in Liberia
Humanitarian crisis in Central African Republic
For each of these events, a brief description followed by public health measures implemented and an interpretation of the situation is provided. A table is provided at the end of the bulletin with information on all new and ongoing public health events currently being monitored in the region, as well as events that have recently been closed.
Major issues and challenges include:
The identification of the source of the listeriosis outbreak in South Africa and the confirmation of the disease in Namibia have caused various reactions in the region. While countries in the region should put in place adequate precautionary measures, these need to be done in line with provisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and in keeping with the recommended public health measures. The outbreak of cholera in Malawi continues. While the overall disease trend is declining, the case fatality rate remains high, with new deaths being registered. This outbreak needs to be contained and the fatalities prevented.
SITE UPDATES
National CCCM Cluster
Camp-like settings: On the 13th March 2018 the National CCCM Cluster initiated discussions on Camp-like settings as previously agreed during the National CCCM Cluster meeting. It was agreed that initially the cluster will dene site typologies, identify suitable sites for assessment around Juba, create a pilot tool for initial assessments and conduct a joint assessment trip.
Wau
PoCAA site rehabilitation: CCCM finalized relocations for 28HH/93 individuals to move to newly constructed shelters in A2 (transit area) and C4; there are now 4 empty units in C4 to be allocated to those who need shelter space.
Market demolition PoCAA: On the 7th March 2018 the PoCAA market was demolished after government orders to do so.
Bentiu
The Bentiu POC Fire outbreak: On the 13th March 2018 at about 6:45am fire engulfed S2 Market consuming a big part of the market place, a total of 92 shops were razed to the ground, the major cause of the fire outbreak was the bakery. Following this event, there was another fire which is thought to have been a gesture of revenge. Camp management, RRP, UNMISS and relevant stakeholders are working together to conduct fire training and reduce tensions in the community.
Malakal PoC
CCCM, in collaboration with UNMISS and partners, engaged in preparatory activities for reconfiguration aimed at improving the living conditions of approximately 3,800 as well as establishing an address system in Sector 4 of the site.
UN House PoC
Work is underway in UN House to construct a new community centres and offices which will see all site committees, elder committees and local judiciary groups take ownership of offices allowing for enhanced daily coordination in both sites.
Bor PoC
Following discussions between camp management and WFP, it has been agreed that 115 newly arrived households will be able to access food distribution for one month. During this period, an intention survey will be conducted with new arrivals and results then shared with WFP to advise future programming.
Aburoc
CCCM conducted a 1 day Training on capacity building for the community leadership, with 18 Males and 9 Females in attendance. The main topics of the training were community participation, problem identification and prioritization, and internal & external representation of the community
KAMPALA, Uganda (UNHCR)—UNHCR Representative in Uganda, Bornwell Kantande, has praised the collaboration between registration teams from the Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR as the rollout of the countrywide verification of refugees takes effect.
Reiterating that the countrywide verification exercise follows the directive by the Prime Minister, the UNHCR Representative said, “Let me emphasize that the registration of refugees remains the prerogative and indeed the inalienable duty of the Government of Uganda. Only refugees who are registered in the Government’s Refugee Information Management System will be verified.” Kantande added that this includes babies and new arrivals, the latter in reference to the ongoing refugee influxes from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
“We are using UNHCR’s biometric tools to verify refugees who are registered in the Government’s Refugee Information Management System,” Kantande said. “These tools help to eliminate duplication or recycling, which are common phenomena in refugee situations worldwide.”
The UNHCR Representative described how in order to be eligible for verification refugees must produce Government issued attestations containing information about the family size and composition. The verification process involves authenticating the attestation, following which the refugee family proceeds directly for finger printing and iris scanning, and to have their photographs taken. Refugees who have completed these steps are then issued with proof of verification as well as a family ration card to enable them to receive food that is distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP).
Kantande noted the critical role being played by the litigation desks in the verification centers. “OPM and UNHCR staff are dealing jointly with any situation which may prevent genuine refugees from being included in this crucial process. Our priority is to ensure that no deserving refugee is denied the right to be verified,” he said. Explaining the role of litigation, the UNHCR Representative cited the example of old attestations, which OPM must validate in order for the concerned refugee or family to become eligible for verification. Litigation desks are also processing babies and young children who may not yet appear on a family’s attestation. Interviews with family members and documentation like clinical records like vaccination cards help to corroborate refugee claims during litigation.
“This week, joint OPM and UNHCR teams have begun verification of refugees in Nakivale refugee settlement with 107,000 people to be verified,” he said. “The main challenges we anticipate concern the ongoing rains which are causing refugees to trickle into the verification sites at a slower pace than expected.”
Nakivale Settlement is home to refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. It is one of the oldest and largest refugee settlements in Uganda covering an area of some 185 square kilometers. It is expected that the verification exercise in Nakivale will last eight weeks.
The verification exercise is being rolled out to refugee settlements in different parts of the country. The countrywide exercise is scheduled for completion in September 2018.
Current Government statistics put the number of refugees in Uganda at 1.4 million. There are continuing new arrivals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Uganda also hosts large numbers of refugees from Burundi, Somalia and other countries.
Schools run by UNICEF in a camp for those displaced by the conflict are nurturing children’s dreams of a future free from war.
By Pavithra S Rangan
WAU, South Sudan, 19 March 2018 – He was a quiet, shy boy of 14, helping his parents at the farm, sharing household work and finishing his lessons, in Bentiu county in then undivided Sudan. One day, on an otherwise a regular afternoon, his parents and uncle were dragged out his house and shot dead by plain clothes men with masked faces, while he stood there watching.
Days after the incident, Matet was holding a gun and learning to shoot as a child solider with an armed group. He didn’t think twice about giving up school at grade 5. “If I remained at home, they would’ve killed me as well,” says 41-year-old Matet, his red eyes narrowing into cracks as he recounts details of that day. “I wanted to avenge my parents’ death, protect myself and fight for the freedom of South Sudan. I joined the army in 1991.”
Since then, he has served at different posts across the country. During the brief and tenuous years of peace, Matet married and now has a son of 15 years. However, with conflict erupting again in 2013, he fled once more from his home in Rumbek, with his wife and son, to one of the two United Nations protection of civilian (PoC) sites in Wau, in the west of the country.
At the school within the Protection of Civilians site in Wau, South Sudan, 41-year-old Matet considers his son fortunate for being able continue his education, despite the conflict. “He must study because education helps you reason. South Sudan is caught in war even today because most of us are illiterate,” he says.
“My son can grow up and do anything he wants. I just don’t what him to be like me,” he says. “He must continue studying because education helps you reason. South Sudan is caught in war even today because most of us are illiterate.”
In one corner of the camp, only a few hundred meters from Matet’s home, are eight make-shift rooms of bamboo, aluminum sheets and tarpaulin. Matet’s son, Immanuel, goes to school there and is now in grade six. “He is really fortunate to able to continue his education despite the violence,” Matet says.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan built the first PoC here in 2013 to provide a haven to those fleeing the throes of war. Soon after, UNICEF set up schools in the PoC so that an entire generation of children, growing up in conflict, don’t lose out on an education. Many had dropped out of school due to the violence, and they enthusiastically seize on the opportunity to continue their education.
Matet’s son Immanuel smiles often and speak with an endearing confidence. “I will be an astronaut in a few years. Last year, we studied that it is possible to travel to the moon. I will be an astronaut and go to the moon, far away from here.”
The ongoing crisis has left an enormous impact on the life choices these children. Parents of most children in both PoCs are soldiers from the conflict-ridden regions of Upper Nile, Jonglie or Bentiu, taking refuge from opposing armed groups. Immanuel’s friend, 16-year-old Isaac, hasn’t seen his parents who are in Jonglie, for at least four years now. He lives in the PoC with his sister and brother-in-law who was also a soldier. “I want to be a priest and learn how to talk to God. If you talk to god directly, you can surely ask him to stop this war.”
However, gathering the nearly 4,700 children in both schools at the PoCs has been no mean task for the teachers. "Most parents were not like Matet. Having fled their homes after being exposed to extreme violence, sending their children to school was the last thing on their minds,” says Kalany Mach, the head teacher of the school in the camp knows as PoC 1.
“However, after two years of going from one house to the other counselling parents and children, today, nearly all children come to school willingly every day. They see the aid workers as their role models,” he beams.
UNICEF and partners are doing everything they can to ensure that children experience a normalizing environment that reduces the psychological impact of war. UNICEF’s education in emergencies programme is providing these out-of-school children with access to education in safe, temporary learning spaces.
“We don’t really have drop-outs. If a child doesn’t turn up at school for over three days, we go to their homes and ensure that they’re back in school,” says the English teacher school, Mathew Gatkan. “Absenteeism here is mostly because children often fall sick.” Children are also not promoted to the next class until they pass the requisite tests for each grade. “If they don’t know the alphabet at the end of pre-unit, we hold them back until they learn. This why you see some 10-year-olds at the pre-unit,” says Mathew.
Schools in PoC 1 and 2 are functioning with support from 96 volunteer teachers, include 34 female staff, to who UNICEF provides monthly incentives. Besides making available all teaching and learning material, teachers are also trained in pedagogy and in providing psychosocial support.
For 12-year-old Paula Ambross in grade four, her classroom is also her sanctuary. She speaks softly, without lifting her eyes off the floor, fiddling nervously with her text book. “I didn’t step out the house for months,” she says. “Bullets were being fired all around. For over a year I stayed out of my school,” she says recounting the months before her parents brought her to the camp.
Slowly, she opens up, talking about her best friend at school, Agnes. “Both of us want to write novels. I love reading and English is my favourite subject,” she smiles. She has been top of the class in the subject in all the tests this year, her teacher announces proudly. (Funds for scholastic kits, teaching and learning material, incentives and training to staff in schools at PoCs are generously supported by USAID.)
Medical support, counselling and awareness campaigns are bringing together women affected with HIV and helping them start their lives afresh.
By Pavithra S Rangan
WAU, South Sudan, 13 March 2018 – Cheerful banter fills the sturdy white tent erected on the large, barren premises of the Wau Teaching Hospital. Inside the tent, over two dozen women are sprawled on a green carpet with watchful eyes while their children play next to them. As they chat and laugh, their hands move deftly over colourful strings of pearls quickly taking shape into small, bright handbags.
Each of these women has been diagnosed with HIV – some years ago, others since only a few weeks. Unaware of their condition or its consequences, some have passed on the virus to their children while in the womb. Even as they talk easily and help each other with the weaving, these women with little or no familial support are providing each other emotional resilience to rebuild their lives one day at a time.
The lives of women and children have been hard hit by the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. The high incidence of HIV/AIDS, at 2.7 per cent, is a brutal marker of their vulnerability in the face of war, poverty, famine, malnutrition and disease. “With a severe lack of food and little scope for jobs, women and teenage girls are often forced to sell their bodies to feed themselves and their children,” says Pina Paul, the state coordinator for the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMCTC) of HIV initiative in Western Bhar El Ghazal state.
“While men many abandon their wives to join armed forces or for other partners, others hide the fact that they have HIV to indulge in unprotected sex. Often, women are diagnosed with HIV when they are pregnant, during their antenatal visits to the hospital,” she added. To raise awareness on how to avoid HIV and to enable timely treatment, UNICEF and partners support awareness campaigns and screening tests for all women of child bearing age (between 15 and 49 years) at regular intervals across the country.
During a recent five-day campaign in Wau, in December 2017, 3,073 women were screened – out of whom 52 were HIV positive. All of them were under 24 years, including several teenage girls. When no outreach campaigns are held, in November for instance, 486 women were screened at the center in Wau and 35 of them were diagnosed as HIV positive. UNICEF provides full medication and counselling to affected women and children. Through the women support groups, livelihood activities such as handicrafts are taught and their products sold in the market to fetch income for these women.
“I haven’t seen my husband for over a year now. He left when I was pregnant with my last child,” says 29-year old Jeshinta John. She married him at the age of 12 and the oldest of her four children is a boy of 11years. “When I told my husband that he had given me HIV, he said it’s not a problem and that I should just take the medicine they give me at the hospital,” she says while breastfeeding her youngest, five-month-old daughter, Silviana.
Her lips tremble as she tries to control her tears and her anger. “He knew he had the disease and still made me pregnant. He comes home every six months and stays with his other wives in Juba the rest of the time. When he’s away he never gives us money.”
She was diagnosed with HIV when she came to the hospital after repeatedly falling ill two months before her pregnancy. Jashinta has been taking drugs from the center for a over year now and is extremely careful never to skip a dose. She also gives her daughter, who has been tested for HIV with a negative result, the prescribed medication to eliminate any risk arising from breastfeeding her.
“Doctors here explain all the dangers of HIV. I want the best for children and am very careful so they can live a healthy live,” she says. She walks an hour from her house in Jabalcare to come to the center so she can save the transport allowance given to her during the women’s support group meetings. “I have registered my children in school with that money,” she adds proudly.
Selling mangoes and groundnuts on the street she earns about 300 SSP on a good day. While she is barely able to feed her four children with the money, she is extremely grateful for the limited monthly supply of sorghum, rice, beans she receives at the center.
Over 2000 women and children come to the center in Wau each month to collect their drugs. Ten such PMCTC initiatives are spread across just the Western Barh el Ghazal region. Many die early painful deaths due to lack of awareness and access to medication. Women support groups play a critical role in fighting the stigma associated with HIV. “These women are a great resource in spreading awareness in their communities. They collect medicines for women who are ashamed to come here and even for children who have HIV and have lost their parents,” says Pina. All initiatives to combat HIV and ensure prevention of mother to child transmission of the disease are supported by the Global Fund.
Situation in Numbers
2.3 million children in need
4.8 million people
# of people who need Humanitarian Assistance
(Source: Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview 2017)
1.1million children internally displaced
2.3 million people
# of internally displaced people
(Source: Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview 2017)
468,218 South Sudanese
refugee children
767,570 people
# of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan in total
Highlights
Situation Overview and Humanitarian Needs
In South Kordofan, an inter-agency assessment mission including UNICEF was conducted in 18 hard-to-reach communities in Al Abassiya locality between 4 and 8 February 2018. Some 34,896 people in need were identified, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and vulnerable populations in the host communities. An estimated 60 per cent of these are women and children. This was the first time in 7 years that some communities were reached by humanitarian aid organisations since the conflict reoccurred in 2011. Dire needs were identified including lack of nutrition treatments and health facilities with medical staff in 16 communities, unsafe quality and inadequate quantity of water in all the 18 communities, and around 90 per cent of the community members practicing open defecation. In addition, 1,692 internally displaced students (966 girls and 726 boys) were attending the 13 visited schools and an estimated 2,000 school aged children in the IDP community are out of school. The low enrolment rate is partially related to the long distance that some children need to travel to attend school, since there are no schools near their settlements. UNICEF responded immediately to the most affected newly accessible communities in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health and the Water and Environmental Sanitation project (WES) based on the acute watery diarrhoea data. The preparation of an integrated response plan is ongoing.
An inter-agency WASH taskforce mission including UNICEF visited Sortony, North Darfur, from 4 to 7 February to assess the alarming levels of the water scarcity in the community. Currently, 220,000 IDPs including 105,600 children stay in the location mainly because of the forced displacement which occurred in some areas in the Jebel Marra region between January and April 2016. The major challenge is that there are no water resources in the direct vicinity of Sortony, causing clashes between different tribe-based groups for control of the limited boreholes near the community. To improve the situation, a piped water supply system was established for a few areas by Oxfam America, UNICEF and WES. UNICEF and partners are now covering the operational costs of the pipe water system, complemented with water trucking. However, a durable solution, with the construction of additional piped water networks, is required for providing at least 15 litres per capita per day.
Since the start of 2018, the deteriorating economic situation in Sudan continues to impact on the population especially the most vulnerable, including 2.3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance. A reduction in purchasing power stems from a 50 per cent increase in the price of basic commodities such as wheat and sorghum, depreciation of the Sudanese pound, banning of some import materials, and increased export tariffs, without an accompanying increase in income or social safety nets. This situation is expected to cause higher rates of malnutrition, hinder access to health services and reduce opportunities to receive education. An inter-agency assessment on identifying the impact on the vulnerable people is ongoing.
Geneva, 20 March 2018
As delivered
Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I thank ICVA for bringing all of us together to discuss how we navigate the nexus, the connection, between humanitarian, development and peace action.
Humanitarians work at the sharp end of vulnerability. We are arguably among those who are most familiar with the needs of the 136 million people who require humanitarian assistance and protection for their survival. And we are all too aware of the need for better ways to ensure these people are also included in global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda to “leave no one behind.” If we want to achieve 2030 Agenda, we need not only to come together to meet humanitarian needs, but we must work to end needs by decreasing risk and vulnerabilities.
This requires innovative solutions. I recently attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona where GSMA, an association of 147 mobile network operators, launched the Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation programme. This programme will help the mobile industry reach people in need more effectively and at scale, and it will facilitate the humanitarian-development nexus.
Since the New Way of Working to transcend humanitarian and development divides was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit two years ago, we have seen a great interest in discussions on the nexus between humanitarian, development and peace communities. And we are now starting to see some real progress on the ground.
There are three key priorities I would like to highlight.
First, moving from joined up analysis and planning to implementation.
We are already seeing collaboration on planning collective outcomes based on joint analysis in countries ranging from Somalia and Sudan to Burkina Faso and Mauritania.
I just visited Chad, where I saw the beginnings of this more joined-up approach in practice. The Government, humanitarian and development partners have drawn up an ambitious, joint plan through which they have committed to work together over the next two years towards six collective outcomes that will bring the country closer to achieving the SDGs.
These goals include lifting 1 million people out of food insecurity and 230,000 people out of severe food insecurity by 2019. To reduce the number of women dying in childbirth from 5 per cent to 1 per cent. And to ensure 90 per cent of people have access to basic social services.
In practice, however, they are held back by the lack of development or humanitarian financing.
So, secondly: we need to fund collective outcomes and we need to use the resources we have across the humanitarian and development sector, more wisely.
Despite unprecedented commitment by development actors, the funding is not coming through quickly enough.
We need to work with our donors to find workable strategies to address urgent needs while building towards longer-term development outcomes. We need to deepen our dialogue with donors and investors on how we can develop country-specific financing plans to enable them to finance collective outcomes, while taking into consideration that funding for prioritized and life-saving humanitarian action must equally be made available.
We know that it can work. During last year’s response to famine and food insecurity in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria, the UN, NGOs and the World Bank worked together, complementing humanitarian activities through support to community resilience and economic revitalization; building the capacity of the local authorities; and supporting essential services and employment opportunities. As we speak, humanitarian and development operators and donors in Ethiopia are working in support of the Government on an innovative ‘investment plan’ to break the cycle of drought in the southern lowlands, addressing persistent water shortages and other common priorities. There are so many opportunities to take this kind of collaboration forward.
But, we cannot do this without NGOs.
We absolutely recognize that the clear majority of humanitarian operations are undertaken by NGOs. It is only through your connection to communities, your analysis and programming that we will be able to change the way we work on the ground.
NGOs have actively participated in decision-making around collective outcomes in several contexts. We hope this collaboration will continue.
Many NGOs are dual-mandated and share the view that systemic change is needed. But both dual-mandated and strictly humanitarian NGOs have raised concerns that closer collaboration with Governments, development – or peace – actors, risks jeopardizing principled humanitarian assistance. My message to you today is that we hear that call and that we are fully committed to protect the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and operational independence as we look to strengthening the nexus with the development and, where appropriate, peace communities. We recognize that closer collaboration may not be possible in all situations, including those still involved in acute, active, armed conflict, or in those where national priorities are at odds with the humanitarian imperative.
But in many contexts, the only way to sustainably deliver people out of the endless cycle of need, crisis and vulnerability is by strengthening collaborative approaches and efforts, which will in turn contribute to building peace and stability. We therefore need to be flexible without risking independent humanitarian response and financing, by shifting towards much more context-specific approaches. The questions to discuss today are: How do we translate planning into implementation? What kind of financing models and institutions are best-suited to delivering on collective outcomes? I look forward to hearing more from you today about your concerns, ideas and proposals for making this nexus approach work, so that it provides concrete solutions on the ground. Thank you.
They were lively and lovely, and they moved me close to tears. The Angolan teenaged girls I met told me about their dreams and the barriers they face to achieving what is simply normal elsewhere – finishing primary school, graduating from high school, protecting themselves from unplanned pregnancy and HIV, being safe from male aggression, living and loving in peace and harmony, and having a better future than their parents.
No matter how often I hear these stories, I still feel frustrated about the slow pace of change in redressing unfairness and inequalities in society. At the same time, I am re-energized in my faith in our work. We are achieving strong results in guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights for girls, women and youth in the region, but we need to do so much more.
This year ends our Regional Programme Action Plan 2014-2017, which has focused on women and young people as our priorities. We are closing this phase with a slew of impressive achievements, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – especially Goal 3 on Health, Goal 4 on Education and Goal 5 on Gender Equality.
All of our Country Offices have a strong youth programme, which ranges from Innovation Accelerators for young social entrepreneurs to comprehensive sexuality education.
In Southern Africa, which has the world’s highest rates of HIV infection, we have invested heavily in the integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health services, a proven strategy to maximize efficient use of resources and achieve better results.
Our DFID-funded flagship programme Preventing Maternal Deaths in East and Southern Africa (PreMDESA) ensured provision of family planning to 3.4 million users and training of more than 6,000 providers on a wider choice of contraceptives.
Simmering conflict in the Great Lakes region and floods and drought in Southern Africa required a quick and sustained response from UNFPA. We provided health care and support for the most vulnerable – pregnant women, mothers, girls and survivors of gender-based violence – in humanitarian settings. We strengthened midwifery services across the region, especially in war-torn South Sudan.
Looking forwards, UNFPA’s new Strategic Plan 2018-2021 reflects our commitment to excellence and to achieving transformative results – ending unmet need for family planning, ending preventable maternal deaths, and ending violence and harmful practices against women.
Our new Regional Programme is aligned to the SDGs and to the African Union’s 2063 Roadmap for the continent’s socioeconomic transformation, which emphasizes women and youth as drivers of development.
We are inspired in our work by the words of our new Executive Director, Dr. Natalia Kanem: “This is a pivotal moment for UNFPA. Our mandate has never been more relevant, our goals more ambitious, or the environment in which we work more complex. The new transformative results adopted with the new Strategic Plan are ambitious aims. We need to be bold, focused and resourceful in forging ahead. And we need the ideas, insights, energy and innovation that every staff member brings.” There is a wonderful synergy operating in East and Southern Africa (ESA) towards a future built on equality, inclusiveness and universal enjoyment of rights.
The future is here. Our commitment to the rights of women and young people in ESA is unflinching, now more than ever. Hand in hand with our partners, stakeholders and beneficiaries, we shall continue to transform the lives of women and girls in the region.
Dr. Julitta Onabanjo Regional Director UNFPA East and Southern Africa
Years of conflict has impacted South Sudan, an estimated 4 million population has been uprooted including 1.9 million displaced since start of conflict in 2013; with up to 85 percent estimated children and women exposed to protection risks, hunger, diseases, and malnutrition. Armed conflict, economic crisis, and below average harvest contributed to deterioration of food security situation in South Sudan. An estimated 6 million (50 % of population) were severely food insecure (IPC Phases 3, 4, and 5). Localized famine was declared in Leer and Mayendit counties of Unity state in May 2017. An estimated 6 million South Sudanese (56 % of the total population) are food insecure, and another 40,000 facing humanitarian catastrophe (IPC Alert Sep-2017). To respond to humanitarian needs South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF) first standard allocation (2017) prioritized locations with most severe humanitarian needs i.e. displacement, famine affected locations as well as new and emerging needs; OCHA prioritized 25 priority counties based on IPC data, GAM rates, and disease outbreaks.
South Sudan Education Cluster adapted its SSHF strategy to focus on prevention of deaths, diseases and cognitive underdevelopment for 27,300 school-aged children and 55,250 adults (in locations identified as priority by the SSHF and where Education partners are already responding with EiE interventions), and protecting currently enrolled and out of school children. Throughout South Sudan lack of food is main cause of school drop outs for boys, while for girls it is second most common cause (National Education Assessment, SSEC November 2016, and 2017). Education cluster response strategy was rooted in complementary approach i.e. with on-going education response; this approach ensured that funding through SSHF is diverted to address the most urgent needs. Cluster Unit prioritized counties (with exception of Twic East) where WFP is not intervening with Food for Education Program (to avoid duplication). In addition to procurement of supplies, partners’ also established on-site kitchens, community engagement was central to this intervention; PTAs/SMCs were engaged in the cooking, cleaning, distribution, water supply and security of the school storage facilities.
76,294 Refugees and IDPs received nonfood items assistance from UNHCR across South Sudan in February 2018.
3,308 New arrivals registered in Unity in February 2018.
9,142 Refugees received meningitis vaccination in Ajuong Thok in February 2018
Working with Partners in 2018
■ UNHCR works closely with the Government of South Sudan to deliver assistance and protection services to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
■ In the refugee response, the main government counterparts are the Ministry of Interior and the Commission for Refugee Affairs (CRA). Implementing partners in 2018 are the following: Action Africa Help International (AAHI), Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA), ACROSS, ACTED, CARE International, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Humanitarian Development Consortium (HDC), International Medical Corps (IMC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Jesuit Refugee Service (JSR), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Relief International (RI), Samaritan’s Pursue (SP), Save the Children International (SCI), United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), UNV and World Vision International (WVI).
■ In the IDP response, the main government counterpart is the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC). Implementing partners in 2018 are ADRA, UMCOR, Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Handicap International, Humanitarian Development Consortium, INTERSOS, International Rescue Committee, Nile Hope, UNV, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Action Africa Help International (AAHI), Hope Restoration, IsraAid and Women Development Group. Within the IDP response cluster system, UNHCR in South Sudan is Lead of the Protection Cluster (with NRC Co-leading), Co-Lead of the CCCM Cluster along with IOM and ACTED, and undertakes enhanced participation in the IOM-led Shelter/NFI Cluster.
■ On prevention of statelessness, UNHCR’s main counterpart is the Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration (DNPI).
■ UNHCR maintains an operational partnership with the main government counterpart Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (MHADM), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), ICRC, Médecins Sans Frontières (France, Belgium), UNAIDS, UNOCHA, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNMISS, World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), Women for Women International and UN Women.
The Migration Management Unit supports the government of South Sudan to manage migration challenges and protect vulnerable migrants
Policy Development
IOM continues to support the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) in developing comprehensive and evidence-based migration policies which meet regional and international standards. In 2017 The Government of South Sudan and IOM jointly developed and distributed the Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration Green Paper 2017. This followed the development of a five-year DNPI strategic plan developed in 2016.
IOM assistance to the directorate of nationality, passports and immigration
MMU aided in the renovation of one DNPI off ice in Majokyinhthiou, Northern Bahr-el Ghazal. The handover ceremony was held on 10 March 2018.
Infrastructure of DNPI HQ and immigration training centre in Rambur was improved with IOM’s assistance.
This included constructing a shed and roof at DNPI Headquarters (HQ) and extending power connections and plumbing pipes in Rambur to improve the working and training environment for DNPI off icers.
Internet connectivity was provided or improved for immigration off ices in Nimule (the border crossing point with Uganda); DNPI HQ and Immigration HQ in Kololo, Juba.
Capacity Building
To continue to support GoSS in improving border and migration management, IOM led a capacity building programme for 198 law enforcement off icers in 2017. This training covered issues of passport examination, fraud detection, passenger profiling and border management, among other topics.
Assisted Voluntary Return
Supported 103 individuals (67 families) including 32 females under Assisted Voluntary Return (AVRR), resettlement and family reunification programmes.
In 2017, Shelter-NFI Cluster (IOM as Cluster Lead Agency) provided assistance to aff ected populations in need of S/NFI assistance across South Sudan through shelter construction, rehabiliation, and upgrading; NFI distribution; and the coordinated mobile and static responses of 23 S/NFI humanitarian partners.
Additionally, S/NFI Cluster mobile teams participated in the humanitarian response to acute food insecurity in April 2017, following the declaration of famine in February 2017. The S/NFI Cluster continuously undertakes several intitatives to strategize diff erent aspects of the sector; such as House, Land and Property (HLP) focused on shelter; accountability to aff ected population; PoC sites approaches; and cash-based interventions amongst others.
SHELTER/NFI COMMON PIPELINE
As cluster lead agency, IOM manages the common pipeline for the Shelter and NFI Cluster by procuring, transporting and storing stocks throughout South Sudan. Supplies are accessible to Cluster partners ensuring sectorial coverage.
In 2017, MHPSS continued to off er counseling, psychological first aid, referrals, home visits and support group services to 14,743 children and 30,050 adults in four Protection of Civilian (PoC) sites and five IDP Collective Centers in the Wau area. IOM also expanded MHPSS interventions to host communities in 2017. In cooperation with the Ministry of Child, Gender and Social Welfare, IOM built a Social Center to provide comprehensive social work services in Wau town.
In 2017, the IOM Health Unit served more than 600,000 individuals across South Sudan, including residents of three Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites.
The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) is committed to supporting the prominent role women play in peace building and conflict resolution in South Sudan, Chief of Staff, Ambassador Berhanu Kebede has said.
Speaking during a workshop organized by the Women Bloc of South Sudan and supported by JMEC and UN Women in Juba on Wednesday, Ambassador Kebede said,
“Keeping in line with South Sudan’s gender policies as well as regional and international standards on gender inclusion in peace processes, JMEC remains committed to promoting women’s participation in peace-building and conflict resolution processes and joins Women organizations across South Sudan in pressing for progress in this effort in our monitoring mandate.”
The three-day conference themed “Women together for Sustainable Peace” was aimed at creating awareness among representatives of women groups in the country on the first and second phase of the IGAD-led High Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) process. In addition to the presentations on the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities (ACoH), it also sought to engage the participants on the role that the women can play to effectively contribute to the peace process in the country.
“Information about the content and procedures of the processes is key to enabling women’s effective participation,” he said.
Ambassador Kebede thanked the regional body, IGAD and its Special Envoy for South Sudan, Dr.Ismail Wais “for ensuring that women were consulted in the pre-forum stage of the HLRF process and for the increased number of accredited women and civil society delegates.”
During the first phase of the HLRF that opened in December last year, Amb. Kebede said, the parties committed themselves to end the fighting, after they signed the ceasefire Agreement.
“This was an important first step in laying the foundation for revitalization of the Peace Agreement,” he said.
“It is my hope, and that of JMEC’s that this workshop will not only equip you with the information you need but also help strengthen your role in contributing to the HLRF’s intended outcomes.”
Background & Rationale
South Sudan enters its fourth year of political crisis, stemming from violent conflict erupting in Juba in December 2013. The dynamic and multi-faceted nature of the South Sudanese displacement crisis has created significant challenges for humanitarian information management. Accessibility and security issues within South Sudan have impeded systematic data collection efforts, limiting the effectiveness of humanitarian planning and implementation, whilst displacement within and out of South Sudan remains highly dynamic, with 1.9 million South Sudanese internally displaced and 2 million seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. 2 As the crisis continues to evolve, it is becoming increasingly important to fill information gaps in a systematic manner to promote more effective humanitarian response and planning for immediate life-saving activities and contingency planning for durable solutions.
To monitor critical displacement trends within South Sudan as well as to neighbouring countries, REACH conducts direct face-to-face quantitative household interviews with purposively sampled IDPs/asylum seekers/returnees in key transit locations (port and road locations) inside South Sudan who are either leaving or entering a transit site.
In April 2016, REACH started collecting port monitoring data in Akobo, Jonglei State with port monitoring set up in Nyal, Unity State, in August 2016. Since then, REACH has expanded port monitoring data collection to Yambio (Western Equatoria State), Maban, Renk (Upper Nile) and Kapoeta (Eastern Equatoria). Data collection occurs throughout the month, with each transit location uses the same quantitative survey tool, capturing key information on the scale (average number of daily arrivals / departures) and demographics of those moving, main displacement routes as well as the push and pull factors and intentions for movement. To allow for trend analysis, specific locations and time-frames for data collection have been selected, maximising the number of arrivals and departures captured and the maintained constant each month to ensure trends captured are indicative of broader movements.
Comparable information across each location will allow for broader analysis across South Sudan on internal movement and hotspots for migration into and out of the country. To ensure this data is directly informing humanitarian response planning, data is shared through formal coordination structures, such as OCHA, the ICWG, relevant clusters as well as IOM, which captures other key transit sites in South Sudan through its Flow Monitoring activity.
South Sudan’s political culture, including its current civil war, is international. This is due to the country’s history of mass migration and displacement, particularly during the last two civil wars from the early 1960s. By the end of the last century, approximately four million of its roughly ten million estimated residents had fled across South Sudan’s borders. Although many regional refugees returned to South Sudan following the CPA in 2005 and independence in 2011, the renewed conflict that began in December 2013 and was reignited in the centre of Juba in July 2016, has forced at least 1.5 million residents to flee once more.
As such, every community across South Sudan is part of a regional and global network. Many politicians, NGO workers, businesspeople and civil servants are themselves returnees or dual nationals. South Sudan’s communities and families have long moved money and goods through international and internal networks. Today, however, as the current civil war spreads and fragments, this transnational network is under significant stress.
South Sudan’s refugee communities have, and have always had, considerable influence on the way that the country’s civil wars evolve. In this study, through research undertaken both in South Sudan and in one of the most active global South Sudanese communities in Australia, the team has attempted to take a broader perspective to understand the nature of this impact—and the mechanisms through which it is felt—more comprehensively.
The report was written by Cedric Barnes, Freddie Carver, Santino Atem Deng, Gabriel Kiir, Nicki Kindersley, Rebecca Lorins and Sarah Maher.
