South Sudan Protection Analysis Update

From January to June 2025, protection risks in South Sudan escalated amid renewed national conflict, particularly following the house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar. Intensified clashes between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) have severely impacted civilians, especially in Upper Nile, Unity, and Jonglei states. Communities have reported a sharp increase in violence against civilians.

Two significant shocks exacerbate the rapid degradation of the protective environment: Conflict dynamics and attacks on civilians, which compound the most severe and prevalent protection risks domestically; and the conflict dynamics which have triggered widespread displacement from Sudan to South Sudan, straining limited resources and exacerbating risks for new arrivals and host community members alike. In the first half of 2025, displacement surged in South Sudan, with over 456,000 individuals newly uprooted.i Simultaneously, intercommunal violence, looting, and targeted destruction of homes and property have eroded safety and coping capacities.

Access to humanitarian assistance has deteriorated due to active conflict, insecurity, and attacks on aid workers and infrastructure. Medical facilities in rural areas have been damaged or destroyed, limiting access to life-saving services. Civilians in South Sudan, particularly in Upper Nile, Unity, and Jonglei – the states subject to the most prevalent and acute protection risk dynamics – are forced to make difficult choices between fleeing for safety or fulfiling basic needs such as livelihood generation or education in a broader context of inter-communal conflict, clashes between state and non-state-armed groups, dynamic flows of refugees and returnees from Sudan, and a general decline in the economy and governance; all of which are compounded by climate-related shocks.

The primary protection risks are: 

1. Attacks on Civilians and Other Unlawful Killings, and Attacks on Civilian Objects
2. Theft, Extortion, Forced Eviction, or Destruction of Personal Property
3. Gender-Based Violence, including Child, Early or Forced Marriage
4. Child and Forced Family Separation
5. Unlawful Impediments or Restrictions to Freedom of Movement, Siege and Forced