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Where is South Sudan?

South Sudan is a landlocked country in East Africa.

Our impact

Overview

Sudan has been locked in conflict since 1955. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 marked the beginning of a long road to South Sudan’s independence from Sudan.

Independence for South Sudan finally came in 2011, signalling the end of Africa’s longest-running civil war. However, civil war has broken out multiple times since then. This has driven millions of people from their homes and led to problems accessing food, causing widespread hunger. Humanitarian access has also become increasingly limited by the violence.

The Revitalised Peace Agreement, signed in 2018, gave a ray of hope to the people in South Sudan who have been yearning for peace and stability. However, most of the provisions of the agreement are yet to be implemented and the country continues to witness sporadic armed clashes.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan remains dire, with more than two-thirds of the population and some 300,000 refugees in need of some form of humanitarian assistance and protection. 

Farmers work in the fields near Warawar, South Sudan. Through a Tearfund project, farmers have received improved seeds and learned new agricultural techniques to improve the quality and quantity of their crops. Credit: Will Swanson/Tearfund

Our work in South Sudan

Tearfund has been working in the area which is now South Sudan (formerly part of Sudan) since the 1970s.

Our current projects include providing food and livelihood support for vulnerable households, supporting malnourished children and their mothers, and helping conflict-affected communities access clean water and adequate sanitation.

Water, sanitation and hygiene

We have reached over 300,000 people with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions across South Sudan over the past three years.

We are also working with our local partners to pilot a new water monitoring system. This allows the efficiency of water hand pumps to be monitored so that problems can be detected quickly. This should help to prevent the breakdown of hand pumps and ensure that communities have consistent access to water.

Food assistance

Tearfund has reached more than 24,000 people in South Sudan with food assistance, as well as distributing seeds and farming tools to more than 280,000 people.

In Kajo Keji, we are running a humanitarian assistance and development program aimed at reducing hunger, improving nutrition, and promoting resilient food security. Our future food assistance and development programs will also include peacebuilding activities to address conflicts over land and food.

Nutrition and health

Tearfund is supporting 36 nutrition centres across Morobo, Uror, Twic East and Pochalla. These centres are providing food for more than 170,000 children under five years old, as well as for pregnant and breast-feeding women. We are partnering with the county health departments to detect and treat cases of malnutrition at these centres.

We are also running mobile health outreaches so that people living in remote locations have access to life-saving health services.

Peacebuilding

With support from our local partners, local faith leaders and other community-based organisations, we have established community peace structures in 27 communities, reaching more than 37,000 people. 

We facilitate community dialogues between people from across county borders; this has helped to address violence and conflicts over land, county borders and water points. We have also trained and supported people in these local communities to be peacebuilders and to facilitate ongoing conversations and resolve conflict.

Addressing sexual and gender-based violence

We are using the Transforming Masculinities approach in South Sudan to empower faith and community leaders to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence. We plan to start using the Journey to Healing approach to provide community-based and survivor-centred trauma healing and support.

A Tearfund staff member attends to Ayen and her 18-month-old son at a feeding centre in Twic East, South Sudan. Credit: Tom Price/Tearfund

Partnerships and funding

Our work in South Sudan is carried out through a network of local partners, churches and community-based organisations. These include: African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM); Diocese of Kajo Keji (DKK); Evangelical Alliance of South Sudan (EASS); Centre for Emergency and Development Support (CEDS); ACROSS; Sudan Evangelical Mission (SEM); Africa Development Aid (ADA); Food for the Hungry (FH); IMA World Health; Christian Initiative for Restoration and Development Agency (CIRDA); Coalition for Humanity (CH); Africa Inland Church (AIC - CORED); Ecoclean Environmental Company; and Richard Carter Associates (RCA).

We are able to do the work we do because of the generosity of both individual and institutional donors.

Some of our institutional donors include: 

The United States Agency for International Development
Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA)
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)
UNICEF
Dutch Relief Alliance (DRA)
Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB)
South Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SSHF)
Rapid Response Fund
World Food Programme (WFP)
European Union Humanitarian Aid (ECHO)
The START Fund
Food Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Cornerstone Foundation

Contact us

If you have a query for our South Sudan team, then please contact [email protected] and we will pass on your message.

People who have received food vouchers from Tearfund’s local partner walk to the market to receive their food items from local vendors. Credit: Will Swanson/Tearfund

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