Where We Work

South Sudan

Crisis In South Sudan

Food Crisis and Civil War in South Sudan

International Medical Corps has been working in South Sudan since the mid-1990s, nearly 20 years before a national referendum in 2011 led the southernmost states of Sudan becoming an independent country later that same year.

Tensions within the new country broke into armed conflict in December 2013, claiming tens of thousands of lives before a fragile peace agreement took hold in the summer of 2015. Hostility continues to simmer, hampering efforts to improve public health standards in a country that has one of the world’s highest infant-mortality rates. The food-security situation remains desperate and the number of people at risk of starvation has increased. Potential for disease is extremely high, with large numbers of displaced people and sharply reduced access to healthcare. International Medical Corps currently operates in five of the country’s 10 states, providing healthcare, nutrition, mental health and protection services.

Population

12.3 Million

INTERNALLY DISPLACED

1.67 million

INFANT MORTALITY RATE

60 deaths 

per 1,000 live births

60 MINUTES: Fighting famine in war-torn South Sudan

Go behind the scenes as journalist Scott Pelley reports from an International Medical Corps stabilization center in South Sudan, where doctors were fighting to save lives during a brutal famine.

The Challenges

High Infant Mortality

South Sudan has one of the world’s highest infant-mortality rates

Protection

Sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, continues to be widespread

Hunger

More than one in every three people living in South Sudan are severely food-insecure

Communicable Disease

Now facing the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of malaria, cholera and measles remain high

Our Response

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Healthcare

International Medical Corps provides basic primary healthcare across Central Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile States. In displacement camps in Juba, Wau and Malakal, International Medical Corps also runs comprehensive health facilities that offer higher-level care, including surgery. In Juba, the health facility in the camp includes a 24-hour emergency department as well as intensive-care units for adults and children. For the last 15 years, International Medical Corps has also provided secondary healthcare for beneficiaries in multiple states in South Sudan.

In July 2020 we opened and continue to manage an infectious disease unit (IDU) adjacent to the Juba Teaching Hospital, which is both the country’s largest medical facility and the only one in the capital capable of treating COVID-19 patients. In collaboration with the World Health Organization and South Sudan’s national Ministry of Health, we plan to deploy a team of specialists to set up an intensive-care unit (ICU) and provide care to critical patients at the hospital. The team will also help assess and eventually establish a Level 2 ICU unit at the facility that would be equipped with complex life-support systems and other modern equipment, to enable a higher level of care for severe and critical patients. If completed as envisioned, the facility would be the first of its kind in the country that would be fully accessible to the public. It would also allow for eventual teaching and researching components.

Maternal and Child Health

With one in every 50 live births resulting in the death of the mother, South Sudan has one of the highest maternal-mortality rates in the world. Due in part to the high fertility rate, each mother has a one-in-seven chance of dying in childbirth during her lifetime. Babies are at even greater risk: 25% die from common, often preventable, childhood illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday. The high-impact services that International Medical Corps implements in primary health clinics in South Sudan focus on improving the health of women and their children. Several of our primary and secondary health facilities also provide emergency obstetric care, ensuring care for women experiencing complications during delivery.

Nutrition

In some of the areas where we work in South Sudan, more than one-third of children under five are affected by chronic or acute malnutrition, which can cause moderate or severe stunting. High prices for food staples, disruptions to livestock and crop production, currency devaluation, limited humanitarian access and conflict-related displacement are responsible for the high levels of food insecurity throughout South Sudan. Through 13 program sites, International Medical Corps has implemented a successful program using the community-based management of acute malnutrition model, along with a maternal, infant and young-child feeding approach, as curative and preventive measures. As of February 2020, we have reached more than 40,000 malnourished children and almost 18,100 pregnant and breastfeeding women with nutrition services. We have also supported more than 400 mother support groups who implement and advocate for nutrition and dietary behavior change at the community level.

Capacity Strengthening

For every service we provide, International Medical Corps works closely with local and government counterparts. At our primary healthcare clinics, the majority of staff members are South Sudanese who receive training, support and guidance from experienced Sudanese or expatriate staff. We previously supported three midwifery schools, where men and women completed a rigorous two-year course of study to become midwives. From 2012 to 2022, we graduated 631 nurses and midwives; many of those midwives now work for International Medical Corps. We currently provide on-the-job training to midwives and other healthcare workers at Malakal Teaching Hospital and at more than 20 International Medical Corps-supported health facilities across Malakal.

Gender-based Violence (GBV)

Violence against women and girls is an endemic problem in South Sudan, exacerbated by ongoing conflict and chronic displacement. International Medical Corps puts gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response at the core of its lifesaving interventions. Our programs are tailored to support and empower women and girls who are most affected by abuse and violence, and who face particular risks during and after armed conflict and natural disaster. Our services include quality case management using a survivor-centered approach, along with counseling and psychosocial support that includes referral to health centers for clinical management of rape and legal justice services based on the needs and wishes of survivors. In addition, we run women- and girl-friendly spaces and offer livelihood activities in camps in Wau and Malakal, as well as within communities in Nyal, Aburoc, Malakal Town, Wau and Akobo counties.

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