South Sudan: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (December 2025)

In December, humanitarian access remained difficult due to escalating hostilities, heightened militarization, and expanding bureaucratic interference. The operating environment was most severely affected in Jonglei, Upper Nile, Unity, and Western Bahr el Ghazal States, with conflict dynamics and administrative pressure increasingly converging to restrict humanitarian presence, movement, and programme delivery.

In Upper Nile State, insecurity and access constraints significantly disrupted life-saving assistance. Food distributions for approximately 40,000 conflict-affected people in Baliet and Nasir counties were delayed due to illegal taxation imposed on UN-contracted service providers, affecting planned movement of 800 metric tons of assistance along the Sobat corridor. In Nasir County, county and state authorities ordered the withdrawal of humanitarian staff, resulting in the evacuation of six NGO staff and the suspension of December food distributions, with commodities temporarily confiscated pending access negotiations.

Violence, intimidation, and threats against humanitarian personnel, facilities, and assets continued throughout the month. In Jonglei and Upper Nile States, local authorities forcibly entered NGO compounds and confiscated equipment. Along riverine routes in Canal/Pigi County, seven contracted commercial boats were detained at checkpoints, with demands of SSP 1 million per boat, disrupting humanitarian logistics along the Sobat River. December also recorded a serious aviation security incident, when an armed individual hijacked a humanitarian aircraft at Wau Airport, highlighting growing risks to air operations. Criminal incidents—including armed robberies, burglaries, and theft of humanitarian and personal assets—were reported in Juba, Renk, Bor, Wau, Pibor, and Aweil, further increasing staff security concerns.

Bureaucratic and administrative impediments intensified, particularly in Ulang county in Upper Nile State. Authorities suspended staff from at least seven NGOs and three UN-affiliated partners over alleged recruitment malpractice, often despite prior approvals from State or National Ministries of Labour. Additional constraints included mandatory advertisement fees of 10,000 SSP per position, renewed demands for county-level registration with fees of up to USD 200, restrictive recruitment directives, and new requirements for staff to collect work permits in person. In Renk and Ulang Counties, NGOs were instructed to submit detailed staff lists, payroll records, asset inventories, and 2026 workplans, with warnings that non-compliance could lead to suspension of operations.

In Jonglei State, South Sudan People's Defence Forces orders issued in late December in anticipation of major military operations resulted in the relocation of humanitarian staff from Duk, Uror, Akobo, Nyirol, and Fangak Counties, with a number of NGOs relocating personnel to Juba, effectively suspending field activities and programme implementation across large areas.