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South Sudan

South Sudan is a country with a fragile and precarious equilibrium, marked by decades of conflict that have caused immense human suffering. In October 2022, almost 6.6 million people (54% of the population) were acutely food insecure. Despite the establishment of a government of national unity on 12 March 2020, South Sudan remains an unstable country where various armed factions continue to clash. Since 2017, 1 million people have returned to South Sudan from their homes, 2.3 million South Sudanese are refugees in another country, and 2.3 million are internally displaced. The Caritas Luxembourg project area enjoys relative stability, particularly due to its geographical location.

A PERMANENT PRESENCE ON THE Spot

In order to be close to its partners, Caritas Luxembourg has adopted a two-pronged approach in South Sudan: firstly, it has set up an office with around fifty staff, mainly local, to implement projects directly on the ground, and secondly, it is committed to strengthening the capacities of its partners by working together to implement projects.

George Nzomo Nthenge is our on-site head of mission. He is involved on a daily basis in the smooth running of the projects and coordinates all Caritas Luxembourg activities.

Les activités de Caritas Luxembourg couvrent les domaines de l'aide humanitaire, de la réhabilitation et des projets de développement. Les projets sont centrés sur la sécurité alimentaire et l'agriculture, la nutrition et la santé. Caritas Luxembourg s'efforce de concevoir des projets complémentaires. Par exemple, alors que certaines de ses activités visent à soutenir les agriculteurs dans leurs efforts de diversification des cultures, d'autres activités visent à promouvoir la consommation d'aliments variés chez les mères de jeunes enfants. De la même manière, Caritas Luxembourg soutient à la fois la production de savon local par des groupes de femmes et la diffusion de bonnes pratiques d'hygiène. Les exemples illustrant la manière dont Caritas Luxembourg exploite ces synergies sont nombreuses et constituent la force principale de l'approche de l'organisation.

EMERGENCY HUMANITARIAN AID

Thanks to its permanent presence in the field, Caritas Luxembourg has the capacity to provide a rapid and efficient response to the various humanitarian emergencies that arise. For example, Caritas Luxembourg is present in camps for displaced persons and provides emergency humanitarian aid (food aid and housing).

This aid is a gift from God. It comes just before Christmas and will help me feed my family for a month" says Agnes A, one of the beneficiaries. "I really thank Caritas for this providential aid. I hope next year to get my land back and resume farming as I used to do before."

Caritas was also able to react immediately when the global Covid-19 pandemic broke out and made hygiene kits available to the population and led prevention campaigns via radio, mobile loudspeakers and group training.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY PROJECTS

Food insecurity is the main factor behind the number of people in need in Southern Sudan. It is mainly caused by overall insecurity in the country, low production and climatic hazards. Caritas Luxembourg focuses on strengthening the resilience of farmers, helping them develop new skills, distributing agricultural and livestock supplies, and helping farmers to join forces and organise themselves.

For example, farmers are trained in new farming techniques and receive advice from agronomists. They put this knowledge into practice through demonstration plots set up for this purpose. These trainings are also carried out with a view to teaching various knowledge to certain farmers who will share it in their village, thus extending the impact of the action. Farmers' organisations and cooperatives are also supported by Caritas Luxembourg in order to enable them to better defend the interests and rights of their members and to promote better management and marketing of products.

NUTRITION

The people most affected by famine are also the most vulnerable, including pregnant women and children under the age of 5. IPC analyses estimated that by 2020, in South Sudan, more than 1.4 million children under the age of five and about 352,000 pregnant and lactating women were acutely malnourished. 

One of the most important actions implemented by Caritas Luxembourg in South Sudan remains the programme to fight malnutrition in children under 5 years old as well as in pregnant and breastfeeding women. In each village, Caritas Luxembourg works with mother educators. These are women who have been previously trained and who are in charge of detecting cases of malnutrition, giving advice to young mothers on good hygiene and nutrition practices or training them in the production of food supplements using local products and vegetables, for example the preparation of porridge made from millet. Many families have set up vegetable gardens so that they can enjoy more vegetables.

HEALTH

Caritas Luxembourg is also working to strengthen several primary health care centres, a hospital and their respective staff. These institutions are essential to meet the health needs of many vulnerable communities. Access to these places is often an obstacle for populations, so Caritas Luxembourg also works through proximity teams and mobile clinics. Following the various abuses suffered by women, such as early marriage, Caritas Luxembourg puts a particular emphasis on improving access to maternal and child care. One of its projects includes the creation of a centre for prevention, treatment and orientation for safe motherhood, specialising in the repair of obstetric fistulas. At the same time, Caritas Luxembourg invests in radio programmes and village events dedicated to improving knowledge on key health topics, with a view to preventing malnutrition, harmful practices and the spread of infectious diseases.

Rose K., a nurse, tells us about a case of obstetric fistula:

Severina participated in the awareness campaign, benefited from specialised surgical services and participated in post-operative rehabilitation sessions. She used to cry all the time. This is the first time I've seen her smile in two months."

Severina takes her back:

Thanks to this operation my incontinence problems have disappeared, I don't feel bad anymore, I have regained my self-confidence, I can go out now and I don't have to hide anymore. I can even take a motorbike taxi and come all the way here: my life has just changed."

Caritas Brochures Caritas Luxembourg in South Sudan
Caritas Luxembourg has been present in South Sudan since 2006.
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