South Sudan
2023-12 Factsheet - South Sudan
Highlights
Statistics: Total Country Population is 12.44 M. People in Need of SNFI assistance is 2.94 M. People targeted 1.39 M (15% Persons with Disabilities), and the funding requirement is 35M (HRP 2023).
Problem Analysis: SNFI needs are induced by persistent conflict, the sudden influx of forced returnees (ongoing Sudan crisis), economic shocks, food insecurity, recurrent disasters (floods, drought).
Cluster Focus: Increased direct, timely, and tailored assistance to people directly and indirectly affected by the crisis (newly and protracted displaced people) and returnees by building on their capacities to transition into recovery.
Response modality: In-kind, cash, or a hybrid as determined by the context.
Operational Capacity: 23 active partners (2 UN, 09 INGOs, and 12 National NGOs). Cluster has an independent core pipeline to enhance preparedness and response through centralized procurement, pre-positioning, and harmonizing all the supplies to ensure quality and timely response.
NFI
Shelter
Need analysis
The humanitarian situation in South Sudan continued to worsen, driven by the cumulative and compounding effects of years of conflict, sub-national violence, food insecurity, and climate-related disasters. According to South Sudan HNO (2023), out of the 12.44 million people, 9.4 needed humanitarian assistance in 2023. However, due to financial constraints, only 6.5 M people were targeted. Of the total target, 3M people needed shelter and NFI assistance, but only half were targeted (17% representing Persons with Disabilities). The need for shelter and NFI assistance remains significantly high among the hosting families and IDPs, citing shelter and NFI assistance as their 2nd top priority need after food. Similarly, the sudden influx of thousands of people fleeing the Sudan crisis has triggered a surge in need for emergency shelter and NFI assistance.
Women, children, and PwDs are the most affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, and if their needs are not addressed, they are likely to be driven into negative coping mechanisms, including selling their items, joining the armed forces (children), and sometimes SGBV. Thus, the cluster continues to prioritize such vulnerable households/groups for assistance to meet their protection needs.
Response
Of the 1.49 million people targeted with emergency shelter and NFI assistance, the shelter Cluster and its partners have assisted ……. people (…%). This includes:
- People were provided with emergency shelter assistance (plastic sheets, bamboo bundles, poles, and ropes).
- People received basic household items (standard NFI packages that include mosquito net, kanga, solar lamp, blankets, NFI bag, and sleeping mats).
- Received cash support to construct or repair their homes.
Note: The above cluster responses were tailored to the needs expressed by the affected people (needs analysis) informed by county-level severity scale by the NAWG and access guarantee.
The S/NFI Cluster continues to advocate for a multi-sectoral approach since shelter is a keystone intervention that is critical for dignity and survival and to ensure a holistic approach to respond to the needs.
Cash has been scaled up in locations where markets are functional to maximize the benefits associated with Cash-Based Modality, emphasizing multi-purpose cash grants to meet the affected population’s diverse needs and rebuild the local economy.
Also, the S/NFI Cluster continues implementing contextualized disaster risk reduction strategies as part of the reconstruction programmes, in response to the effects of unending natural disasters- flooding.
Gaps / challenges
- Resource constraints: The needs surpass the financial and partners' capacity due to multiple sudden emergencies (ongoing Sudan crisis). Cluster has received only ……% of the overall required fund for 2023.
- MPC challenges: Shelter-specific activities cannot be achieved with the MPC modality. This is because the cost of implementing shelter-specific activities exceeds the Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB).
- Operational challenges: While we continue to advocate for localization, there is still a low capacity of national NGOs that will likely impact the response quality. The Cluster continues to devote resources and establish ways of building local capacity through joint responses, trainings, partnerships, and mentorship. Additionally, the capacity of the government to respond to the needs remains a challenge.
- Access challenges: Humanitarian access due to conflict, flooding, and poor infrastructure remains a major impediment to service delivery. Civilians and humanitarians are threatened by targeted and indiscriminate killings, roadside ambushes, land mines, and explosive remnants of war. This is in addition to bureaucratic impediments, illegal checkpoints and fees, affecting the ability of humanitarian partners to reach vulnerable people with much-needed life-saving assistance. Furthermore, South Sudan has one of the least developed infrastructures globally. The road system has been affected by floods, and safety is never guaranteed, with air transport being the only reliable means of transport, making responses more costly.
- Economic challenges: The South Sudan economy is greatly affected by the ongoing inflation, limited banking, and network systems, and most locations do not have functioning markets, which limits the use of cash as a response modality.
