Key Findings
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The county has been void of humanitarian aid facilities since the April 2017 violence, after which the previously present Christian Development Aid (CDA) left the area.
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Children among IDP and host communities are in dire need of education. There are no functioning educational facilities in Chuil.
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Inhabitants of Chuil do not have access to health facilities and walk for two days to Lankien to reach health facilities operated by MSF and Oxfam.
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Thirty-four per cent of interviewees cited safety as the primary reason to move. These were mainly representing new arrivals post-April 2017 while many of those that decided to come for the services (31%), were said to have arrived before April when CDA was still providing aid to inhabitants of the area.
BACKGROUND
Since the onset of the civil war in South Sudan in December 2013, Jonglei has been one of South Sudan’s most conflict-affected states. Nearly four years of continual national-level war, combined with long term structural-level communal violence, has led to generational spans of personal insecurity.
Compounding this situation, Jonglei also suffers from one of the highest levels of food insecurity in the country, with a majority of its geography located within high-risk livelihood zones. Stretching east of the Nile River and south of the Sobat River Corridor, Jonglei’s vast plains are highly prone to flooding in the wet season, drought in the dry season, and year-round crop pest and livestock disease. As such, Jonglei maintains one of the highest proportions of population suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition in South Sudan, and presently nearing famine levels (IPC).
Continual conflict and structural food insecurity create prerequisite conditions for widespread population displacement. At present, Jonglei hosts the second highest amount of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country, at an estimated 363,399 people (OCHA, September 2017).
Chuil Payam, part of Nyirol County, located in northeastern Jonglei State alongside the southern bank of the Sobat River and near the border of Upper Nile State, was last directly impacted by conflict in April 2017. Clashes between opposing parties on 23 April in Dini and Kurmayom Bomas resulted in population displacements towards Pathiel and Yukuach Bomas where a majority of DTM respondents still reside. However, conflict in neighboring counties earlier in the year, ongoing conflict within Nyirol today, and the possibility of continued conflict in the surrounding areas, means that the displacement dynamics in and around Chuil will remain in flux in the near future, with a strong potential for secondary and tertiary population displacements.
METHODOLOGY
The Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) conducted an intention - and a multi-sectorial needs survey in Chuil Payam in Nyirol County (Jonglei State) to create a profile of the displaced population. Intention surveys were conducted in the bomas of Dini, Kurmayom, Chuil Headquarters, Wiechgach, Pathiel and Yakuach. Most IDPs were found to be living in the latter two. Multi-sectorial surveys were limited to Chuil Headquarters and Kurmayom Boma because of lack of access (security and flooded roads). DTM tools allow aid organisations to plan and execute a comprehensive response linking immediate humanitarian needs with transition and recovery activities. The surveys were conducted by IOM DTM staff and trained enumerators from 2 - 6 September 2017. Households were selected through random sampling and interviews were conducted with the heads of households and other family members. A total of 202 households were interviewed. Of those interviewed, 74 per cent were female and 26 per cent were male. Two focus group discussions were conducted with IDP and youth representatives as well as host community members to understand the general living conditions and humanitarian needs in the surveyed locations across Chuil Payam. Direct observations further fed into a more comprehensive analysis of the displacement situation. IOM DTM was accompanied by NRC, active in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Non-Food Items (NFI).