Our History

Thirteen (13) years after gaining independence, including three years after signing the most recent peace agreement, people in South Sudan continue to face deteriorating humanitarian conditions amidst a worsening economy. Conflict, subnational violence, public health challenges, climatic shocks, and large-scale displacement have severely affected people’s livelihoods and hindered access to essential services. Forced displacement in South Sudan is highly complex, with large numbers of internally displaced persons, refugees, and returnees living side-by-side with host communities.

Since the onset of the political conflict in April 2023, more than 836,000 individuals have arrived in South Sudan from Sudan, including returnees, refugees, and asylum seekers. About 175,000 newly arrived Sudanese refugees in South Sudan have been transferred to existing refugee settlements in Upper Nile and Ruweng Administrative Area and to a newly established settlement in Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. More than 600,000 South Sudanese who had sought refuge in Sudan before the conflict were forced to return under adverse circumstances. Upon arrival in South Sudan, returnees indicate their intention for onward destinations – primarily to Upper Nile, Unity State, Central Equatoria, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap and Western Bahr el Ghazal. Returnees are also finding their way to peri-urban centres such as Juba, Bor, Torit, Yei, and Malakal.

The conflict in Sudan has had a catastrophic impact on South Sudan, disrupting trade and leading to a rise in food and fuel prices. This price surge exacerbates protection risks and vulnerabilities, particularly in South Sudan’s northern states, further straining access to essential goods and services. It has also increased these communities’ food insecurity, negative coping mechanisms, and humanitarian needs. On top of this, climate change poses a significant additional threat to South Sudan, the second most vulnerable country to natural hazards globally in the 2024 INFORM Risk Index. Hazards, such as drought and flooding, have profoundly impacted the country, with floodwaters from the 2019-2020 rainy season lingering in some areas. This persistent climate crisis and short-term changes, such as altered rainfall patterns, indirectly contribute to instability, conflict, and food insecurity.

Despite being deeply impoverished, climate-impacted and underdeveloped, especially in border areas with high displacement and refugee hosting, the Government of South Sudan maintains an open-door policy. It grants access to its territory to all individuals arriving from Sudan, including Sudanese refugees, other refugees, returnees, and third-country nationals. The government has granted prima facie status recognition to all Sudanese affected by the current crisis. This conducive policy environment creates the momentum to facilitate development approaches that support local authorities, host communities, and forcibly displaced and returnee populations. Additionally, UNHCR is leading the Area-Based Coordination Leadership in Malakal (Upper Nile), which hosts a Protection of Civilians site for IDPs and a high number of returnees from Sudan. UNHCR has facilitated the government and multi-agency Durable Solutions Roadmap for Upper Nile. UNHCR, together with IGAD, has also supported the formulation of the National Durable Solutions Strategy for IDPs, Returnees, Refugees and Host Communities.

The dire humanitarian need in the country, in the face of a totally collapsed civil service, poor resource allocation and skyrocketing inflation is the key impetus to our intervention. There is lack of government services amidst the worsening economic and social conditions. As mentioned earlier, the experiences of conflict, communal violence, public health challenges, climatic shocks, and large-scale displacement have severely affected people’s livelihoods and hindered access to essential services. The catastrophic consequences of the Sudan conflict on South Sudan namely, increase in food and fuel prices and the strained relationship between asylum seekers and host communities over access to essential goods and services have exacerbated the protection risks and vulnerabilities of communities. It has also increased food insecurity and negative coping mechanisms. The persistent climate crisis and short-term changes, such as altered rainfall patterns, indirectly contribute to instability, conflict, and food insecurity have worsened the situation. Besides, the absence of formal justice sector institutions in the rural areas has made access to justice elusive to many communities. The Judiciary has been chronically understaffed, and the few judges who are serving on the bench have to endure political interference and intimidation. There is huge impunity in the country and unresolved conflict between statutory and customary laws.  The legal framework is severely underdeveloped with regard to basic state functions. The country has no family and GBV laws. Crimes under international law have not yet been incorporated into the Penal Code. Command responsibility does not exist as a mode of criminal liability under South Sudanese law, and military commanders cannot currently be prosecuted for failing to prevent or punish crimes committed by their subordinates. Provisions for victim and witness protection are also largely nonexistent, among others. So, aware that, 1) access to any opportunities for development and humanitarian assistance is a fundamental right for every human being in the world irrespective of sex, nationality, political affiliation, religion and ethnicity. 2) there are many vulnerable groups of people in South Sudan living under severe economic deprivation and can hardly access any opportunities to enable them improve their livelihoods. 3) South Sudanese need skills for survival under conditions of vulnerability. 4) the wide spread poverty in South Sudan puts severe constraints on the meager resources of the country, henceforth the development of the above intervention program by the STEWARDWOMEN.