The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is seeking $1.4 billion to meet the needs of 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees living in five neighboring countries - Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - through 2024. A similar number of people living in local communities in the countries of asylum will benefit from services and support, according to the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP) released on Thursday.
Since the start of the conflict in South Sudan more than a decade ago, growing humanitarian needs, exacerbated by severe food shortages, ongoing insecurity and the effects of climate change, have kept South Sudanese refugees in exile and led to new displacements. Four consecutive years of flooding have also destroyed homes and livelihoods, triggering further cross-border movements.
While the war in neighboring Sudan, which began in April last year, has forced nearly 200,000 South Sudanese to move to safer areas within Sudan and nearly 500,000 to return home, more than 2 million people in the region remain in need of international protection.
With 4.3 million women, children, and men forcibly displaced, South Sudan has the highest proportion of displaced people - 35 percent - of any country in Africa. While 2 million people are internally displaced, more than 2.3 million have fled to neighboring countries. Most now live in Uganda, which hosts 1 million South Sudanese refugees.
UNHCR is calling for renewed solidarity and support for the people of South Sudan and the countries hosting them.
“While significant strides and commendable efforts have been made over the last 10 years by partners, this year’s Regional Refugee Response Plan builds on the incremental progress made and demonstrates that if given the resources, humanitarian aid combined with investments in resilience […] will facilitate longer term solutions,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region in a statement.
Aid agencies and local NGOs will build on progress already made with host governments and regional bodies to improve the protection environment for refugees and asylum-seekers through improved access to asylum and civil documentation. The RRP also aims to support the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance and protection services, including the prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual exploitation.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, the integration of refugees and asylum seekers into national health, education and other systems, as well as initiatives to increase people's self-reliance through employment opportunities, are at the heart of this year's response plan. Partners will seek to strengthen support for resilience and solutions for refugees and their hosts through strategic partnerships with the private sector and development actors.
Mental health, particularly among young South Sudanese refugees, will also be prioritized as many lose hope for their future due to limited opportunities. A new element in this year's plan is partnerships and increased funding to enable displaced populations and host communities to become more climate resilient.
The plan will build on inclusive policies led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the East African Community (EAC), and will be consistent with pledges made by governments, the private sector and donors at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum last December.
Despite these inclusive policies and the generosity of host countries in hosting South Sudanese refugees, global solidarity has waned as the situation has become more protracted.
In 2023, only 24 percent of the required funding was received, far short of what is needed to ensure that all South Sudanese refugees can live in dignity. In 2022, only a third of the needs were met.
“Several countries in this region are undoubtedly experiencing complex challenges that often demand significant financial requirements. However, the people of South Sudan deserve our attention and support so they can contribute meaningfully to their societies and gain skills for when they eventually are able to return home,” Balde said.
The South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan complements the South Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) launched at the end of last year, which aims to reach 5.9 million people in South Sudan by 2024.
In 2024, 9 million people in South Sudan are projected to require some form of humanitarian assistance. Among those in need of humanitarian aid will be 4.9 million children.
The 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) for South Sudan targets just 66 percent of the most vulnerable children, women and men, while leaving the needs of millions of others unmet. The humanitarian response in South Sudan will require US$1.8 billion to reach the targeted population.
Even before war broke out in Sudan last year, years of conflict in South Sudan had already created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. Soaring rates of severe malnutrition, acute hunger and deteriorating health conditions threaten the lives and well-being of millions of people in the country, exacerbated by extreme weather events linked to the climate crisis.
According to the 2023 Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) analysis conducted in September-October, a total of 5.83 million people - nearly 60 percent of the population - are currently facing crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse levels of hunger, a figure expected to rise to over 7 million by April 2024.
An estimated 7.1 million people in South Sudan will be food insecure during the lean season from April to July 2024. According to the latest IPC analysis, 1.6 million children are at risk of malnutrition, including 480,000 at risk of severe acute malnutrition (SAM).
South Sudan is also one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Drought and flooding contribute to food insecurity. In addition, South Sudanese women and girls remain at high risk of gender-based violence (GBV).
The Sudan crisis, which erupted on April 15 this year, has also increased the number of vulnerable people in need of assistance. The continued influx of South Sudanese returnees from Sudan and Ethiopia, many of whom arrive with no assets and extremely limited coping capacities, continues to put heavy pressure on host communities to share scarce resources.
Further information
Full text: 2024 South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan, UNHCR, document, published March 28, 2024
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/107552