This report covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2012
Overview
Since the independence of the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, the process towards recognition of the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC) has seen remarkable progress with the adoption of the “Red Cross Act” by the National Assembly in January and the formal signature into law by President Salva Kiir in April 2012. A membership drive launched in January brought the remarkable recruitment of over 2,000 persons of all ages, origins and walks of life and the organization of assemblies by July in all ten branches to elect governing bodies. A very first national General Assembly in October elected its first President and Governing Council as well as an Executive Committee to oversee SSRC’s progress meeting every three months. At the same time, the recruitment for key positions to strengthen the headquarter structure progressed as well albeit slowly due to the difficulties to identify suitable and competent candidates among the many applications.
Towards the end of the year, serious flaws in the financial management of SSRC became manifest mainly through the lack of accountabilities for working advances transferred through the various pledges. Main concerns are the lack of implementation in CBHFA and to a certain extent in the Emergency Appeal for Returnees and Host Communities (MDRSS001) as for WASH activities in favour of affected communities in the main cities in seven out of ten States.
The decision by South Sudan in January to halt all oil production and export through Sudan due to an unbridgeable gap in the positions on transit fees for the use of Sudan’s pipelines and Port Sudan brought a significant cut in estimated around 90% of government income in an already very dire economic situation. The consequences were increasingly felt in the second half of the year. Other remaining contentious issues such as border demarcation, Abyei, the conflict in Jonglei and the status of southerners in the North contributed further to an uncertain and generally tense environment. Albeit slower than initially feared, the arrival of tens of thousands of people originating from the South from Sudan brought additional pressure on already vulnerable communities in the bigger urban agglomerations. IFRC decided in May to launch an Emergency Appeal for “Returnee and Host Communities” (MDRSS001) and as a result shifted much of the activities and resources planned in the LTPF to the Appeal.