International Assistance in South Sudan

Why we are on site

South Sudan is the youngest country in the world and remains extremely fragile. A brutal civil war raged there for many years, and although there is officially peace today, it is very fragile. Conflicts continue to flare up repeatedly on both political and social levels.

In 2025, the country experienced the most severe escalation of violence since the peace agreement. More than 300,000 people were displaced from their homes and at least 2,000 were killed, as fighting spread from one state to another.

In recent months, prices in the country have doubled or even tripled. Many people can no longer afford food. According to the latest report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), around 7.56 million people—more than half of the country’s population—are expected to face acute food insecurity between April and July 2026, the peak of the lean season. During this period between planting and harvest, food availability is at its lowest and hunger is at its most severe.

In addition, South Sudan is experiencing some of the most severe impacts of climate change: rainy seasons have become increasingly unreliable in recent years, and when rain does come, it is often so intense that it leads to severe flooding. During the dry season, soils are barren and produce very low yields. Everything is dry and dusty. People often have to walk long distances to access clean water. Children suffer from preventable diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria, and pneumonia. Maternal and child mortality rates in the country remain extremely high.

What we are doing

Johanniter International Assistance has been active in South Sudan since 2012. The focus of our activities is on the areas of health, food security, livelihoods, nutrition, protection and WASH (water, hygiene and sanitation). We are active in two states in South Sudan: Wau, located in Western Bahr el Ghazal State in western part of the country and Torit in Eastern Equatoria State in the south, close to the border with Uganda. We implement various projects in an integrated approach. 

We support the people with health projects. In Wau, we are building maternity wards at primary health facilities and train village health workers to provide health care services to children under five years. In our nutrition projects, we screen children under 5 years to determine their malnourishment status and provide additional food if needed. In Torit, we reach people in remote villages with mobile clinics. Within the communities, we raise awareness on protection related issues focusing mainly on Gender Based Violence (GBV), early marriages, and safeguarding from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. 

Another focus are WASH projects. We drill and rehabilitate boreholes to ensure the supply of clean drinking water. We construct institutional latrines at schools, clinics and market places. Working with farmer groups, we are focusing on food security and livelihoods where we train them on climate smart agronomic practices and support women on livelihoods skills such as bread making, sewing, knitting, crouching and fuel efficient stove making.