Web Desk

Humanitarian Action for Children 2020 – South Sudan

Literacy

Total people in need 7.5 million

Total children (

Total people to be reached 4.74 million

Total children to be reached 3.43 million

Nutrition

268,045 children aged 6 to 59 months affected by SAM admitted for treatment

2,933,723 children reached with vitamin A supplementation

1,098,241 caregivers of children aged 0 to 23 months who received counselling on maternal, infant and young child nutrition

Health

518,000 children aged 6 months to 15 years vaccinated against measles

340,000 pregnant women and children provided with insecticide-treated nets in malaria-endemic areas

WASH

817,000 people accessing a sufficient quantity of safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene

303,500 people accessing safe and appropriate sanitation facilities

Child protection

127,000 children reached with psychosocial support services

100,000 children and women accessing gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention or response interventions

Education

709,000 accessing quality formal or nonformal early learning, pre-primary, primary or secondary education

2,500 teachers trained on education

Social protection

42,030 households reached through the cash transfer programme

Community engagement

2,400,000 people accessing mechanisms to voice their needs/concerns/feedback, including on Ebola

South Sudan

The unresolved conflict has prevented displaced people from returning home, increased their vulnerability and is severely hampering basic service provision for 7.5 million people, including 4.1 million children. More than 1.5 million people are internally displaced and 2.2 million are taking refuge in neighbouring countries. ?Critical social services such as primary health care and education are facing significant interruptions due to insecurity and operational interference. UNICEF expects an increase in the number of children with acute malnutrition, from 860,000 in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2020. This includes more than 292,000 children under 5 years who will suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) due to malaria, measles, diarrhoea and poor nutrition. Since 2014, the United Nations has verified over 3,600 incidents of grave violations affecting 98,000 children and adolescents. Sixty-five per cent of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetimes. An estimated 900,000 children are suffering from psychological distress, having witnessed violence or experienced it directly during attacks on schools or similar violent incidents. Over 2.2 million children are out of school and 6 million people are at risk of disease outbreaks such as Ebola and cholera and require water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services.

Humanitarian strategy

In 2020, UNICEF will target children left furthest behind in South Sudan, ensuring they are safe, can quickly recover from shocks such as Ebola and cholera outbreaks, and are equipped and empowered to respond to future distress. Life-saving humanitarian assistance delivered through an integrated package of nutrition, health, WASH, education and child and social protection services, including cash programming, will promote early stimulation and responsive caregiving. Partnerships will build the capabilities and resources of central and sub-national urban and rural authorities and be aligned with the United Nations Cooperation Framework. Innovative emergency responses, including for Ebola response, will be based on effective preparedness actions that scale up interventions for affected children through static operations, direct outreach and the Integrated Rapid Response Mechanisms with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme. Strengthening social service delivery systems in high-risk areas will improve accountability to and results for children by building resilience and sustaining gains. Risk-informed programming will strengthen the capacities of individuals, communities and local partners from the onset of humanitarian action. UNICEF will continue to co-lead the nutrition, education and WASH clusters and the child protection area of responsibility to contribute to strategic humanitarian action linked to development.

Results from 2019

As of 31 August 2019, UNICEF had US$101.6 million available against the US$179.2 million appeal (57 per cent funded). Ninety-one per cent of severely malnourished children admitted for treatment were cured. Bed nets were distributed for malaria prevention to 63,000 families. Two national immunization campaigns helped to reach over 729,000 children. Complementary development funding improved access to learning, with 88 per cent of targeted children reached. An estimated 64,000 school pupils gained access to improved water facilities, and 3,600 women and girls received items to support menstrual hygiene management. Due to underfunding of critical protective services for affected children, only 36 per cent of targeted children were reached with essential gender-based violence services. Gains were made in education with the enrolment of 598,500 affected children, of which 42 per cent were girls, and the training of 4,500 teachers on basic pedagogy. Twenty-nine Integrated Rapid Response Mechanism missions were deployed to hard-to-reach locations, reaching over 224,000 people, including 39,000 children under 5 years.

UNICEF worked with partners, including clusters and local authorities to collectively prepare for and respond to disease outbreaks, including Ebola, as well as food insecurity and widespread displacement. Over 50 per cent of partnerships were with local responders.

Source: UN Children’s Fund

1 2 3 4 … 1,322