Executive Summary
A new strategic direction will focus on responding to emergencies and strengthening community resilience
Response to high needs in 2013
The humanitarian situation in South Sudan saw improvements on several fronts in 2013, with overall needs reducing for the first time since 2011. The arrival of Sudanese refugees slowed, and returns of South Sudanese from Sudan continued to decrease as they have every year since 2009. Food security improved for many South Sudanese, although the number of people deemed severely food insecure remained worryingly high.
Overall, up to 4.4 million people, or about one third of the population, needed assistance in 2013. Between January and October an estimated 1.8 million of the targeted 3 million people received assistance. Starting in March, aid organizations increased their efforts to respond to a large-scale displacement of people due to insecurity in Pibor County, Jonglei State. Though challenging, reaching communities struck by violence was made possible thanks to a negotiated access strategy, including high-level advocacy with all stakeholders. By mid-July, aid organizations could launch a response in several locations in areas of state and nonstate presence. State institutions took several measures of their own to improve humanitarian access in Jonglei.
Some 199,000 people were affected by floods, with over 117,000 reached with emergency relief as of October, with responses ongoing. As in 2012, pre-positioning life-saving supplies in Juba and deep field hubs was successful, with 85 per cent of supplies pre-positioned.
Relations with Sudan improve
Relations between South Sudan and neighbouring Sudan, though fractious in the first half of the year, saw improvements later in the year with commitments to resolve issues including continued oil production. However, austerity measures remained in place throughout the year, and will continue to be felt in 2014. Several Comprehensive Peace Agreement issues also lay unresolved, with the status of the contested Abyei area a potential pressure point for instability in the year ahead. Against this backdrop, humanitarian partners remain providers of first resort, particularly in the areas of emergency education, food assistance, health, nutrition, water and sanitation.
A new focus on resilience
While needs are expected to remain high in some areas such as food security in 2014-2016, there are opportunities for innovative and more targeted approaches to strengthen livelihoods, and the resilience of families and communities. In the years ahead, the humanitarian community will expand the focus of its work to ensure that emergency aid helps break cycles of need caused by food insecurity, violence, flooding and disease outbreaks.
With this in mind, aid organizations have developed a threeyear strategy for providing life-saving relief while also improving preparedness, mitigating against future shocks, strengthening national capacity and laying the groundwork for development.
The three pillars of the 2014-2016 humanitarian strategy are:
Responding to immediate humanitarian need;
Enhancing preparedness and building resilience of households and communities to shocks; and
Building capacity and strengthening systems of institutions to deliver basic services.
$1.1 billion dollars needed to achieve goals
To save lives and strengthen resilience across South Sudan, aid organizations require $1.1 billion in 2014, for 306 projects implemented by 128 partners and coordinated by 12 clusters. Together, the projects target 3.1 million people with assistance. This requirement reflects a rigorous approach by all clusters in reviewing what resources are needed to reach shared goals, and partners’ capacity to implement. Encouragingly, there has been an increase in the number of national NGOs joining the CAP.
Donors have continued to stand by South Sudan. As of 31 October, $755 million had been mobilized towards CAP projects in 2013, covering 70 per cent of identified needs. It is hoped that donors will continue this generous support to South Sudan in 2014 and beyond.