May 09, 2017

Highlights

• High-level USG delegations visit South Sudan
• Violent clashes prompt internal displacement, additional refugees
• Insecurity results in temporary suspension of relief operations

Key Developments

Conflict in Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Western Bahr el Ghazal states generated additional internal displacement, as well as population movements into neighboring countries, during the month of April. Attacks on aid workers, which resulted in the deaths of four USAID partner employees, prompted humanitarian organizations to relocate staff from conflict-affected areas and temporarily suspend relief operations.

Health actors in South Sudan recorded nearly 1,500 suspected cholera cases in April, increasing the total number of cases to 7,700 since June 2016, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GoRSS) and UN World Health Organization (WHO) report. The cholera outbreak has affected all 10 states in South Sudan. Relief organizations express concern that the upcoming May-to-September rainy season could accelerate cholera transmission and result in increased humanitarian needs.

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

Conflict in Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Western Bahr el Ghazal states generated additional internal displacement, as well as population movements into neighboring countries, during the month of April. Attacks on aid workers, which resulted in the deaths of four USAID partner employees, prompted humanitarian organizations to relocate staff from conflict-affected areas and temporarily suspend relief operations.

Health actors in South Sudan recorded nearly 1,500 suspected cholera cases in April, increasing the total number of cases to 7,700 since June 2016, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GoRSS) and UN World Health Organization (WHO) report. The cholera outbreak has affected all 10 states in South Sudan. Relief organizations express concern that the upcoming May-to-September rainy season could accelerate cholera transmission and result in increased humanitarian needs.

CURRENT EVENTS

Several high-level U.S. Government (USG) delegations—including U.S. Senators Bob Corker and Christopher Coons, U.S. Representative Thomas J. Rooney, and USAID Counselor Thomas H. Staal—traveled to South Sudan and neighboring countries in mid-April to observe humanitarian conditions and meet with GoRSS officials and U.S. Embassy in Juba staff. During separate trips, Senator Coons and Representative Rooney met with USAID partners at a UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) protection of civilians (PoC) site in the capital city of Juba to discuss USG-supported response efforts. Senator Coons also traveled to Unity State’s Ganyiel town to observe USG-funded food assistance, health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities. During the visit, Senator Coons noted the critical need for continued humanitarian assistance in South Sudan, as well as ongoing access constraints for relief organizations, according to international media.

In mid-April, Senator Coons, Senator Corker, and Acting USAID/FFP Director Matthew Nims visited the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement in northern Uganda, which hosts more than 270,000 South Sudanese refugees, according to the UN. The delegation observed USG-supported relief operations at Bidi Bidi, including an emergency food distribution by USAID/FFP partner the UN World Food Program (WFP). State/PRM continues to support the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organizations to provide assistance for South Sudanese refugees in Uganda and other neighboring countries.

INSECURITY, DISPLACEMENT, AND HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

Violence throughout South Sudan in April resulted in population displacement and additional humanitarian needs. Insecurity also obstructed relief activities in Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Western Bahr el Ghazal, resulting in aid worker deaths, relief staff relocations, and the temporary reduction and suspension of humanitarian operations. The relief worker deaths included three South Sudanese aid workers employed by USAID/FFP partner WFP and a South Sudanese staff member of a USAID/OFDA partner. The UN reports that at least 83 aid workers have been killed since the crisis in South Sudan began in December 2013, including 16 aid workers in 2017.

In late April, clashes between armed actors in and around Upper Nile’s Kodok and Tonga towns displaced an estimated 35,000–50,000 people, according to the UN. Continued fighting in Upper Nile could displace thousands of additional civilians, most of whom are likely to flee to Upper Nile’s Aburoc town or neighboring Sudan. The clashes in Upper Nile prompted relief organizations operating in Aburoc and Kodok to relocate staff and limit or suspend activities in late April. According to the UN, humanitarian organizations relocated more than 30 staff members from Aburoc and Kodok to Juba.

The UN reported that nearly 20,000 South Sudanese people had fled to Sudan between April 29 and May 6, due to insecurity. In response, relief actors are conducting rapid registrations and providing emergency assistance for populations arriving at the South Sudan–Sudan border. UNHCR estimates that more than 95,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan since January. Sudan hosted nearly 390,000 South Sudanese refugees as of late April.

A mid-April spike in violence in Western Bahr el Ghazal’s Wau town displaced more than 22,000 people and resulted in at least 28 civilian deaths, including three WFP aid workers, according to local officials and relief organizations. The attacks prompted civilians to flee to the protected area adjacent to the UNMISS PoC site in Wau, according to the UN. Since April 10, relief staff at the PoC site have recorded approximately 17,000 new internally displaced persons (IDPs), bringing the total number of IDPs sheltering at the site to more than 39,000, according to USAID/OFDA partner the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In addition, relief actors at a collective center in Wau have recorded at least 5,000 new IDPs since early April; IOM reports that an estimated 14,000 IDPs are now sheltering at the collective center.

The deterioration of security conditions in Wau has led humanitarian organizations to limit operations and relocate staff from the town. In an April 21 press statement, USAID partner the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced a temporary 40 percent staff reduction in Wau, due to staff safety and ongoing insecurity concerns.

Fighting in Jonglei’s Waat and Walgak towns during the week of April 10 affected up to 100,000 people, according to the UN. Due to the fluidity of the situation, the UN has not been able to verify displacement figures. The attacks 3 prompted humanitarian organizations to evacuate nearly 60 staff members from the area on April 14–15, the UN reports. With staff relocations and ongoing conflict, most relief organizations in the affected areas had suspended permanent operations as of May 5; however, mobile response teams are traveling to the region to provide assistance, as security permits.

More than 895,800 South Sudanese refugees are sheltering in Uganda, including approximately 60,000 individuals who arrived during the month of April, UNHCR reports. Conflict in Eastern Equatoria’s Pajok town, located approximately 10 miles from the South Sudan–Uganda border, contributed to a mid-April surge in population movement to Uganda’s Lamwo District. In response to the increased arrivals in Lamwo, UNHCR and the Government of Uganda opened a new refugee settlement on April 12 in Lamwo’s Palabek town, which has the capacity to accommodate approximately 30,000 refugees.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

Acute levels of food insecurity persist across South Sudan, with more than 5.5 million people expected to experience Crisis—IPC 3—and higher levels of food insecurity between May and July, an increase from the 4.9 million people projected to experience IPC 3 or higher levels from February to April, according to the IPC Technical Working Group.5 In addition to conflict-related displacement, continued depreciation of the South Sudanese pound, persistent increases in food prices, and limited availability of foreign currency are contributing to deteriorating food security. According to a recent WFP report, the average cost of cereals—the primary component of food baskets for low-income households in South Sudan—increased more than 500 percent between February 2016 and February 2017. WFP anticipates that food commodity prices will remain elevated or possibly increase as the country enters the May-to-August lean season, during which elevated transportation costs due to seasonal rains and deterioration in road conditions could also adversely impact access to food.

Despite ongoing conflict, USAID/FFP partner WFP has provided life-saving food assistance to approximately 2.5 million people in South Sudan to date in 2017. Since January, WFP has provided more than 57,000 metric tons (MT) in urgently-needed food assistance for immediate distribution directly to food-insecure populations, including approximately 27,000 MT by air. In addition, WFP recently collaborated with Oxfam/Great Britain to airlift more than 5 MT of nutrition supplements and WASH commodities to support approximately 2,500 IDPs in northern Jonglei’s Kaikuiny town.

WFP has also delivered approximately 7,200 MT of food commodities through the humanitarian corridor between Sudan’s El Obeid town, North Kordofan State, and Unity’s Bentiu town in South Sudan, since the Government of Sudan (GoS) opened the corridor in late March. The GoS opened a new humanitarian corridor between Sudan and South Sudan on April 27, connecting El Obeid to South Sudan’s Aweil town, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. The new corridor will allow WFP to deliver up to an additional 7,000 MT of emergency food assistance to approximately 420,000 food-insecure people in the coming weeks, according to the UN.

In addition to food distributions, WFP continues to pre-position food assistance for distribution during the May-to-September rainy season, which renders many areas of South Sudan inaccessible by road. As of May 9, WFP had pre-positioned more than 98,500 MT of food commodities—approximately 86 percent of the nearly 115,000 MT designated for pre-positioning—in strategic locations across the country.

With $9 million in FY 2017 funding, USAID/OFDA is supporting FAO to respond to the emergency agricultural needs of up to 500,000 vulnerable households—or nearly 3 million people—across South Sudan. On April 25, FAO distributed fishing supplies, seeds, and tools to approximately 1,500 households in Central Equatoria State’s conflict-affected Lainya County. As FAO activities in Lainya are conducted amidst ongoing insecurity, USAID/OFDA partner the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is assisting FAO to provide relief items to populations in need by identifying and negotiating access to affected communities. 

HEALTH, NUTRITION, AND WASH

Relief organizations continue to monitor and respond to the ongoing cholera outbreak in South Sudan. Health actors recorded nearly 1,500 suspected cases of cholera in April, according to the GoRSS Ministry of Health and WHO. Health actors report that the recent number of weekly cases reported exceeds peak weekly cholera case levels recorded during the 2016 rainy season. During the week of April 24, health actors recorded new cases in Jonglei’s Ayod, Duk, and Fangak counties and Lakes State’s Awerial, Yirol East, and Yirol West counties. The GoRSS and WHO report that cholera transmission in Awerial, Ayod, and Yirol East is primarily related to cattle camps, where humans and animals frequently utilize the same contaminated water sources. Relief organizations have expressed concern that the upcoming rainy season could accelerate cholera transmission and result in increased humanitarian needs.

Through the USAID/OFDA-funded Rapid Response Fund, managed by IOM, four USAID/OFDA partners are responding to the cholera outbreak in South Sudan, including conducting vaccination campaigns in cholera-affected areas, establishing cholera treatment units and oral rehydration points, and delivering WASH items to prevent further spread of the disease.

On April 25, IOM deployed a health rapid response team to assist with cholera response efforts in Ayod, where the GoRSS and WHO recorded nearly 20 suspected cases during the month of April. Health facilities in Ayod lack sufficient health workers, medical supplies and equipment. WHO is also providing cholera response kits, including disinfectants, gloves, intravenous fluids, medicines, and equipment for oral rehydration points and cholera treatment units.

Critical acute malnutrition levels persist across South Sudan, particularly in Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei, Lakes, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Western Bahr el Ghazal states. Nutrition actors had treated approximately 46,200 children experiencing severe acute malnutrition as of April 30, reaching 22 percent of the more than 200,000 children targeted in 2017. In April, USAID partner the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) screened more than 106,000 children for acute malnutrition, identifying approximately 19,200 acutely malnourished children. UNICEF also trained more than 630 nutrition staff and 80 health outreach volunteers, rehabilitated nine health centers, and provided safe drinking water at 21 outpatient therapeutic program sites.

UNICEF often responds alongside WFP’s registration and food distribution activities, which provides beneficiaries with an integrated response that includes health care services, acute malnutrition screening and treatment, protection resources, and critical WASH support. UNICEF and WFP have provided emergency assistance to more than 150,000 people in Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile since late February. UNICEF also vaccinated more than 31,400 children against polio and nearly 32,500 people against measles.