South Sudan Appeal
Humanitarian Action for Children
UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children appeal helps support the agency’s work as it
provides conflict- and disaster-affected children with access to water, sanitation, nutrition,
education, health and protection services. Return to main appeal page.
South Sudan snapshot
Appeal highlights
The unresolved conflict has prevented displaced people from returning home, increased their vulnerability and is severely hampering basic service provision for 7.5 million people, including 4.1 million children. Over 1.5 million people are internally displaced and 2.2 million are taking refuge in neighbouring countries. Critical social services such as primary health care and education are facing significant interruptions due to insecurity and operational interference.
UNICEF expects an increase in the number of children with acute malnutrition, from 860,000 in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2020. This includes over 292,000 children under 5 years who will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) due to food insecurity, malaria, measles, diarrhoea and poor nutrition.
Since 2014, the United Nations has verified over 3,600 incidents of grave violations affecting 98,000 children and adolescents. Sixty-five per cent of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetimes. An estimated 900,000 children are suffering from psychological distress, having witnessed violence or experienced it directly during attacks on schools or similar violent incidents.
Over 2.2 million children are out of school and 6 million people are at risk of disease outbreaks such as Ebola and cholera and require water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.
Key planned results for 2020
268,045 children aged 6 to 59 months affected by SAM admitted for treatment
817,000 people accessing a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene
100,000 children and women accessing gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention or response interventions
Funding requirements for 2020
Country strategy
In 2020, UNICEF will target children left furthest behind in South Sudan, ensuring they are safe, can quickly recover from shocks such as Ebola and cholera outbreaks, and are equipped and empowered to respond to future distress. Life-saving humanitarian assistance delivered through an integrated package of nutrition, health, WASH, education and child and social protection services, including cash programming, will promote early stimulation and responsive caregiving.
Partnerships will build the capabilities and resources of central and sub-national urban and rural authorities and be aligned with the United Nations Cooperation Framework. Innovative emergency responses, including for Ebola response, will be based on effective preparedness actions that scale up interventions for affected children through static operations, direct outreach and the Integrated Rapid Response Mechanisms with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.
Strengthening social service delivery systems in high-risk areas will improve accountability to and results for children by building resilience and sustaining gains. Risk-informed programming will strengthen the capacities of individuals, communities and local partners from the onset of humanitarian action. UNICEF will continue to co-lead the nutrition, education and WASH clusters and the child protection area of responsibility to contribute to strategic humanitarian action linked to development.
Programme targets
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Highlights
Humanitarian Action is at the core of UNICEF’s mandate to realize the rights of every child. This edition of Humanitarian Action for Children – UNICEF’s annual humanitarian fundraising appeal – describes the ongoing crises affecting children in South Sudan; the strategies that we are using to respond to these situations; and the donor support that is essential in this response.
