Twelve million people, one dream
The formation of the government of national unity in South Sudan is giving people hope. For WFP, it is an opportunity to place as much emphasis on changing lives as they have been doing saving lives.
Juba is a city reborn.
Once racked by conflict, South Sudan’s capital appears like a town on the mend. From above, high-rise buildings stand tall as if to herald a new day. The hustle and bustle of downtown city life, gives the air of normality. New structures crop up daily whilst construction cranes swing in the city’s open skies.
People are hoping that it is the dawn of an new era.
“There is a limit to what aid can achieve. Without peace, suffering will dramatically worsen.”
But, nearly 4 million people remain displaced in South Sudan: 1.5 million internally and 2.2 million as refugees in neighbouring countries. Close to 200,000 people have sought shelter with the UN in six Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites located on its five bases across the country in Bentiu, Bor, Juba, Malakal, and Wau. A few are trickling back home, whilst others, with little or no guarantees of their safety are staying put for now.
Dreams of a peaceful country
Nhagak Mar is one of the many who have been unable to return home. At 87 years of age, the widowed mother of four and grandmother of six lives in a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of South Sudan’s capital Juba. She has lived on the margins of society for much of her life and is very much an outlier in life even at the camp.
“We don’t have anyone to take care of us. We need to be strong and do everything for ourselves,” she says. “We are alone, left behind. Our husbands, sons and the fathers of our children keep dying because of this war.”
Married at 26. Her husband and three sons died in an ambush in her village in Leer county, Unity sate and she made the treacherous month-long journey to Juba in search of safety on foot. Sleeping and hiding in swamps and bushes, she arrived at the camp tired and hungry.
She casts a weary figure even now. All those years of war have taken a toll on her.
“Living in the camp is difficult, but outside the camp is a nightmare. We don’t have anywhere to go. This is the only place we can be safe,” she says.
“My only prayer is that all women are able to restart life and go back to our village, from where we are from,” she echoes the cries of all South Sudanese.
“I dream of a life when we can all walk without fear. We need our freedom back. We need peace. I hope one day we become independent again.”
And she is not the only one dreaming of a peaceful South Sudan.
At 28 years old Alisa Peter has a lot ahead of her. She has just given birth to her fourth daughter and this is her second child born inside the camp which has been her home since 2014. She hardly leaves the camp.
“Life is hard outside for us,” she says. “All I want for my new-born daughter’s future is freedom that she can move around safely.”
Improving situation
“Our programmes need peace to be effective,” says Matthew Hollingworth, WFP’s Country Director in South Sudan. “Violence restricts movement, business and agricultural production. Even a short burst of conflict has a long-term impact. Two weeks of fighting at a critical stage of the planting season could affect food security for 12 to 18 months.”
Since the signing of a peace agreement in late 2018, the food security situation improved slightly as access improved and humanitarians were able to get assistance to people consistently throughout the year.
But there are still huge disparities across the country. In many cases people are only just beginning to get back on their feet, many are still homeless and too afraid to return home.
The cumulative effects of past droughts, a stagnant economy, low-key inter-communal conflict and the impact of the 2019 floods means that chronic issues of poor nutrition will take much longer to turn around.
International assistance
“But aid alone will not save South Sudan without peace and political stability. There is a limit to what aid can achieve. Without peace, suffering will dramatically worsen,” warns Hollingworth.
Humanitarian assistance has been a lifeline for millions in South Sudan since conflict began in 2013.
Some 7.5 million people — more than two thirds of the population — need humanitarian assistance in 2020. Humanitarians need a staggering US$ 1.5 billion to provide aid and protection support to millions of people in need.
WFP provides life-saving food distributions to the most vulnerable, along with food assistance to enable communities to construct or rehabilitate assets, food for school meals and special nutritious products for the prevention and treatment of malnutrition among children and pregnant or nursing women.
In 2020, with enough donor support, WFP plans to assist 5 million people. Also, WFP hopes to expand its road rehabilitation and construction works as well as increase the amount of food purchased locally across the country.
Silencing the guns 2020
2020 will therefore be a crucial year for the country. It is the year when the peace effort should be cemented through the creation of the Government of National Unity.
“Only then can WFP hope to place as much effort on changing lives as we have been doing saving lives. To bring communities together, to end isolation and inequity in South Sudan,” adds Hollingworth.
