Backstory: South Sudan is the most recent sovereign state in the world, being widely recognised around the world. The country is the product of a referendum in 2011 for the independence of the then Autonomous region from the Republic of the Sudan. From the foundation of the country, South Sudan has experienced military tension within its territory which then erupted in a civil war starting in 2013 and ending in February 2020 with a peace deal between the armed factions.
Refugee Crisis: During the conflict in South Sudan, economic decline, disease, and hunger followed, which led millions to be displaced from their homes or even flee to neighbouring countries, such as Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to reports from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC), more than half of the refugees from South Sudan are under the age of 18 - we are referring to 63% of the displaced people being children! Not only that, but a lot of children victims of sexual assault or violent attacks are travelling alone after being separated from their parents.
Regarding the internally displaced refugees, they have been reallocated to what is called POC or Protection of Civilians sites. Concerning the refugees, the South Sudanese diaspora is very present in the neighbouring countries where enormous refugee camps are created, with the support of the country and/or the support of the United Nations, more particularly, the UNHCR and UNICEF.
When it comes to the security of the refugee camps, the UNHRC is working to prevent cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) by building safer shelters and running campaigns of awareness to highlight the importance of fighting this issue. Not only that, but the UNHRC promotes a system where volunteers can host victims of SGBV so as to support South Sudanese refugees that have survived such experiences.
A great number of refugees from South Sudan enter the Republic of Sudan and are resettled there with the humanitarian aid of the European Union (EU) and UNICEF. In fact, 74,000 refugees have been resettled in El Ferdous (East Darfur) in Sudan, where the EU and UNICEF ensure that one of the most basic rights is accessible to children refugees: Education. According to UNICEF, 14,800 children have been given humanitarian support from UNICEF itself to have access to education. The EU is greatly in charge of building safe classrooms to support refugee children. There is also a great preoccupation with ensuring places for children to play in a safe environment, which is of paramount importance for a child's growth.
Sanitation and hygiene are some of the practices that were made available to these children. From constructing latrines to the availability of clean and safe water, UNICEF believes it can boost school attendance for the girl child during menstruation (you can also find out more about this in another blogpost: https://unicefmaastricht.wixsite.com/unicef-stm/post/menstruation-a-natural-bodily-function-or-a-barrier-to-girls-education). According to UNICEF reports in five targeted schools in cities, such as El Ferdous, Al Salam, Al Geraif, Abu Oud, and Abu Talib, attendance in schools has raised from 1,857 in 2018/2019 to 2,739 in 2020.
Another important contribution from UNICEF is the support from trained social workers to provide psychosocial help to children in refugee camps. Indeed, refugee children, many times go through traumatising experiences until they arrive at protected refugee camps, so UNICEF is preoccupied with long-lasting effects on their mental health, which over 4,500 students have benefitted from.
As aforementioned, many children arrive alone at refugee camps in neighbouring countries from South Sudan, so it is essential that these children are reunited with their families. UNICEF plays an important role in identifying and providing support to children who were separated from their parents. The results from these efforts are remarkable: about 720 unaccompanied and separated children were reunited with their families or placed in alternative family care.
There is still major support to be given to South Sudanese refugees as seen in the image above. There are still 5.1 million people to be reached, 3.7 million of these are children. UNICEF Student Team Maastricht recommends the following link from the official UNICEF website to donate and be better informed about the issue: https://www.unicef.org/appeals/south-sudan
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