South Sudan

Eric Alain Ategbo knows his way around the Lologo Nutrition Centre on the outskirts of Juba. As Chief of Nutrition for UNICEF South Sudan, he has been here many times, and seen countless children so weak and malnourished, they can barely keep their heads up.  This year, a staggering 1.4 million children will suffer from wasting. Deprived of a diet…

Firstly, what inspired you to take on a career in water and sanitation? I had just finished university when I started working for an NGO in the Cambodian refugee camps in 1987. The educated elite had been murdered by the Khmer Rouge, and because none of the refugee staff had the opportunity for a formal education, I was the only engineer in a camp…

More than 110,000 people live in Bentiu – the largest Internally Displaced People camp in South Sudan. Surrounded by creeping floodwaters, with nowhere to go, all hope seems lost. Hope has long faded from 12-year-old Kai’s eyes. Standing barefoot on a dumpsite on the outskirts of the camp in Bentiu, South Sudan, thick swarms of flies encircle him…

Children and young people to participate in a unique football tournament supported by football legends Awer Mabil and Amy Lasu.   JUBA, 19 NOVEMBER 2022 – “Diversity and inclusion!” is chanted by hundreds of children and young people as they step onto football fields across the country. To mark World Children’s Day on November 20 – UNICEF’s…

Joint UNICEF, WFP, FAO, and TNLA Press Release     Juba, 11 November 2022 - The United Nations and the South Sudan Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) today launched the South Sudan Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. As a member of the Eastern African Parliament Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, the aim…

Joint News Release Juba, 3 November 2022 – Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise across the flood, drought, and conflict-affected areas of South Sudan, with some communities likely to face starvation if humanitarian assistance is not sustained and climate adaptation measures are not scaled-up, the United Nations warned today. The latest…

Lessons outdoors, under trees, long distances, from home, flooding, and displacement, is the reality for children and young people in different parts of South Sudan. In addition, insecurity and lack of economic means discourage many parents from sending their youngest children to school, particularly girls. South Sudan, the world’s newest country…

In Bor town in Jonglei State, Nyakelei Garang Kuei, a mother of three children, was leaving the state hospital with her vaccination card. She had just got her first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine. She is the first woman in her community to be vaccinated and challenging the rumours and misconceptions circulating about the COVID-19 vaccine –…, Social mobilizers link communities with life savings information and services., Achol is a trained social mobilizer supported by UNICEF. Community mobilizers engage with people on a regular basis through household interactive sessions, door-to-door megaphone announcements in communities, church announcements, radio talk shows and participation in social gatherings. Achol, who lives and works in the same district as Nyakelei,…

JOINT FAO/UNICEF/WFP NEWS RELEASE   Juba, 18 October 2022 – The United Nations is calling for concerted efforts to address the root causes of food insecurity and malnutrition in South Sudan. Severe, multiyear flood events, surging subnational violence, and economic pressures are pushing more people into worsening levels of acute food insecurity –…

JUBA, October 4, 2022 – Thanks to support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), mothers across South Sudan will receive crucial ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) to treat their children suffering from severe wasting, a life-threatening form of malnutrition. These life-saving supplemental foods have been made…

During conflict, education helps the country, the community, to keep up to date with information. When pupils come to class, it helps to take their focus away from the sound of gunfire and from taking part in criminal activities. Kutio Wilson Martin Science teacher, Mongbondo School In 2011, South Sudan became the world’s newest nation when it…, Millions of children are out of school, In South Sudan, there are an estimated 4.75 million school-aged children – including 472,452 internally displaced children. The country has one of the world’s highest proportions of out-of-school children, as about 3 in 5 children have never set foot in a classroom or have dropped out. To compound this, pandemic-related school closures forced 2.8…, Laying the foundation for quality education, Going to school provides South Sudanese children with an essential sense of normalcy in the context of the violence, displacement and poverty that they have endured. The first major GPE grant of US$36 million for 2013-2018 (GPE I) was implemented during a complex period of armed conflict. While most donors shifted priorities and moved to…, GPE promotes an inclusive process, The current GPE grant of $41.7 million (GPE II) aims to reduce the number of out-of-school children by 15%, thus increasing access to quality education. GPE II was developed through an inclusive consultative process led by MOGEI, involving the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, donors, development partners and civil society organizations.…, Reducing the number of out-of-school children, Despite the unprecedented emergency created by COVID-19, which delayed program implementation, several interventions have already been completed. GPE supported a mapping exercise to identify locations with the highest concentration of out-of-school children and profiled their learning levels and educational needs. girls speaking in front of…, New textbooks and teacher training, To improve the quality of education, the GPE program has funded the printing and distribution of 462,700 teacher guides and more than 4.9 million textbooks, which benefited  more than 2.3 million students . The provision of textbooks and teacher guides marked the first opportunity for children and teachers to access much needed instructional…

The smiles on the faces of seven-year-old Achan Kuon and her twin brother Bak at a child-friendly space in Malakal mask the agony and trauma they have been through. They have been in the internally displaced people’s camp for weeks now without their mother and father, from whom they have been separated for almost a month and whose whereabouts…