Southern Sudan -- Humanitarian Situation and CWS Response

The combined effects of the 21-year civil war, occasional, but disastrous flooding, and food shortages have brought untold hardship to families living in parts of the Bahr el Ghazal region of Southern Sudan. Many who had been forced to flee their homes and villages for safety are now beginning to return, and face the enormous challenge of finding food and safe drinking water.

Current Humanitarian Situation:

- Number of persons killed during the 21-year civil war is over 2 million. (Deaths due to fighting, famine and disease.)

- Number of refugees in camps: over 500,000 in camps in Uganda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Central African Republic, and other countries.

- Number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Southern Sudan: 4 million -- the largest displaced population in the world.

- Situation on the Ground: In January, the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), officially ending Africa’s longest running civil war.

John Garang, the leader of the SPLM and the newly sworn in Vice President, died when his helicopter crashed upon returning from Uganda on July 30, 2005. Garang has been the principal leader of the SPLM over the past 20 years, and this will be a pivotal loss as Sudan moves forward in the peace process. The SPLM has quickly reorganized and named Salva Kiir Mayardit as the new Vice-President.

The infrastructure and societal mechanisms in Southern Sudan are devastated. The region needs assistance in every sector -- roads, markets, schools, health centers, houses, agriculture and food security, education, nutrition, and water/sanitation.

CWS Response:

CWS is funding the rehabilitation of a Regional Ecumenical Centers to be used in training and vocational capacity building programs. The first of the trainings will be the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resiliency (STAR) program. STAR provides training and resources to develop the capacity and resilience of religious and civil society leadership to transform conflict, build peace and security, and support justice through healing trauma within local, national, and global communities.

CWS is also funding work by several partners throughout Southern Sudan. These projects include:

- Infrastructure repair: of roads or transportation routes through food for work programs in preparation for return of refugees and IDPs to their areas of origin.

- Food: providing food and targeted supplementary feeding to those in need.

- Shelter kits and non-food items: through distribution of shelter kits that consist of reinforced plastic sheeting, blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans for water, kitchen utensils, fishing supplies, seeds, and tools.

- Education: by constructing/rehabilitating schools and providing furniture, equipment, schools supplies, and training for teachers.

- Water: through drilling boreholes, providing hand pumps, and training community water committees.

- Sanitation: through digging pit latrines in community locations including schools, health centers and other central areas, and training community hygiene promoters.

- Health: through construction/rehabilitation of health centers and training for health workers.

- Food Security: by providing seeds and tools and teaching sustainable farming techniques.

- Areas of activity for these projects include Bahr-el-Ghazal, Upper Nile, Southern Blue Nile, Western Equatoria, and Eastern Equatoria.