South Sudan: Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023

Summary of humanitarian needs and key findings Context, shocks and impact of the crisis Eleven years after independence and four years after the signing of the revitalized peace agreement, people in South Sudan continue to face deteriorating humanitarian conditions. Their situation is worsened by endemic violence, conflict, access constraints and operational interference, public health challenges such as measles and cholera outbreaks and climatic shocks resulting in extraordinary flooding and localized drought. These in turn have a severe impact on people’s livelihoods, hamper access to education and water, sanitation and hygiene and health services. Protection concerns remain high, especially for women and girls. People affected by violence have limited access to formal justice as well as restriction in their movement and access to basic needs such as food. An estimated 2.2 million people are displaced in the country since 2013 and more than 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees are hosted in the neighbouring countries. At least 148,000 returnees from abroad remain displaced within the country, unable to reach their homes. Continued conflict and instability in South Sudan, combined with flooding, have resulted in large-scale internal and cross-border displacement. Above normal rainfall for the fourth consecutive year in 2022 led to prolonged flooding, which affected areas that had not flooded in previous years. Since July 2022, an estimated 1 million people were affected by severe flooding in 36 counties across South Sudan and in the southern part of the Abyei Administrative Area. People in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, Unity and Western Equatoria states are the worst affected and 80 per cent of those affected were from Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states. People were forcibly displaced repeatedly due to multiple compounding shocks, both in areas of displacement and return. The humanitarian community in South Sudan estimates that 9.4 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, a staggering 76 per cent of South Sudan's population, increased by 500,000 people from 2022. At least 148,000 returnees from abroad remained displaced within the country, unable to reach their homes.