GPC Operations Cell: gpc[at]unhcr.org
Gender-Based Violence: chase[at]unfpa.org
Child Protection: rpouwels[at]unicef.org
Housing, Land and Property: jim.robinson[at]nrc.no
Mine Action: unmasgeneva[at]un.org
Field Operation
South Sudan
South Sudan witnessed a fleeting period of peace after the signing of the Revitalised Peace Agreement in 2018. But recent intercommunal conflicts coupled with climatic shocks, such as unprecedented flooding, and economic shrinkages resulting from COVID-19 have reversed many of the advancements made and newly adds to the number of protection risks experienced by people. Opposition groups proliferate in the country with indignant violations of ceasefire agreements and undermine efforts to address food security, displacement, vulnerability due to climate change, lack of services and violence.
South Sudan has an agropastoral economy—the weak national infrastructure, governance and systems to cope with natural hazards is therefore striking at the root of people’s subsistence. It has triggered a cycle of displacement, with many unable to return home and those who are left behind, are landlocked without adequate access to humanitarian and protection services.
South Sudan
Protection Issues
Different parties to the conflict in South Sudan have often attempted to reach peaceful agreements. But these efforts have been short-lived—unravelled by intercommunal violence and attacks among ethnic groups. Daily inter-tribal violence over raiding of cattle, burning villages and shelters, kidnapping children for forced recruitment or girls for early marriages, are often coopted and mobilised by military and political groups, exacerbating political conflict and posing threats to civilian wellbeing. Most of the population can be categorized as poor, and with humanitarian access seriously compromised, they are left to fend for themselves in hostile environments. Women and girls are particularly at risk in the country.
- Abduction, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary or unlawful arrest and/or detention
- Attacks on civilians and other unlawful killings, and attacks on civilian objects
- Child and forced family separation
- Gender-based violence
- Psychological/emotional abuse or inflicted distress
- Abduction, kidnapping, enforced disappearance, arbitrary or unlawful arrest and/or detention
- Attacks on civilians and other unlawful killings, and attacks on civilian objects
- Child and forced family separation
- Child, early or forced marriage
- Discrimination and stigmatization, denial of resources, opportunities, services and/or humanitarian access
- Gender-based violence
- Impediments and/or restrictions to access to legal identity, remedies and justice
- Presence of Mine and other explosive ordnance
- Psychological/emotional abuse or inflicted distress
- Torture or cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment
- Trafficking in persons, forced labour or slavery-like practices
- Forced recruitment and association of children in armed forces and groups
- Theft, extortion, forced eviction or destruction of personal property
- Disinformation and denial of access to information
- Unlawful impediments or restrictions to freedom of movement, siege and forced displacement
5.60M
People in Need 2022
3.32M
People Targeted 2022
103.00M
Funding Requirements (US$)
17.88M
Funded 2022
South Sudan
Cluster Operation
Cluster Operation
The Protection Cluster was activated in South Sudan to ensure the coordination of protection interventions in emergencies and to respond to the protection needs of people affected by conflict and natural disasters. It is composed of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Area of Responsibility (AoR), the Child Protection (CP) AoR, the Mine Action (MA) AoR and a Housing, Land, and Property AoR. The Protection Cluster is led by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and co-coordinated by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
The Protection Cluster South Sudan collects monthly data from member organisations on the delivery of protection services to people in need and displays the information on the 5W interactive dashboard below:
The Protection Monitoring System (PMS) in South Sudan is managed by the Protection Cluster and it relies on contributions by member organizations to collect data via a Key Informant Interview (KII) questionnaire at payam level across eleven thematic areas thereby monitoring the occurrence of protection violations, their scale and impact on communities over time.
Protection Cluster Team
Salma Abdillahi
Protection Cluster Co-CoordinatorNRC
Mail: salma.abdillahi@nrc.no
David Hattar
Protection Cluster Roving OfficerUNCHR
Mail: hattar@unhcr.org
Dorijan Klasnic
Associated Information Management OfficerUNHCR
Mail: klasnic@unhcr.org
