Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Sudan + 1 more

Humanitarian Action in Southern Sudan Bulletin, Issue Number 39, Dec 2009 (Year End Edition)

Attachments

HIGHLIGHTS / KEY PRIORITIES

- Vulnerability intensified in Southern Sudan in 2009

- Almost twice as many people were displaced by conflict in 2009 than in 2008

- The food crisis that emerged in 2009 will spill over into 2010

I. SITUATION OVERVIEW

Five years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended more than two decades of civil war, Southern Sudan still has some of the worst vulnerability indicators in the world. Surges in localized violence and food insecurity in 2009 added to an already grim humanitarian situation, particularly in parts of Jonglei, Upper Nile, Lakes, Warrap, Central and Western Equatoria States. Although major efforts, none of the south's key institutions had sufficient resources to handle the situation. In addition to the escalating violence and the critical food gap, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) experienced ongoing financial problems and has been unable to take over delivery of social services from humanitarian organizations.

One thousand newly displaced per day

The nature and magnitude of inter-tribal attacks remarkably increased in 2009. The Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) in conjunction with the humanitarian community recorded more than 350,000 people displaced and 2,500 people killed by conflict from January to December. Over 80 percent were displaced by inter-tribal and related clashes. The other 20 percent were displaced by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, mainly in Western Equatoria State and to a lesser extent, Central Equatoria State. In addition, about 20,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central Africa Republic (CAR) entered Southern Sudan escaping the LRA brutality. The number of people displaced in Southern Sudan in 2009 is almost double that of 2008 when 187,000 were displaced because of conflict.

In addition to a sheer increase in number of attacks, the attacks also showed a new worrying pattern. With women and children deliberatively targeted, observers and authorities agreed that the massacres represented a new, disturbing phenomenon, and not simply a continuation of traditional competition over land and access to water or grazing land, or historically commonplace commonplace cattle raiding. Casualties were in their hundreds and weapons used during the attacks increasingly got more sophisticated.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.