July 2022
We support community-led programs to build resilience and peace.
 Humanitarian food assistance being unloaded in South Sudan. Photo: World Food Program/Gabriela Vivacqua
Additional Humanitarian Assistance for South Sudan Exceeds $117 Million
USAID announced on July 7 that it is providing more than $117 million in additional humanitarian assistance for the people of South Sudan, who continue to experience the devastating effects of violence, food insecurity, and successive years of natural disasters. This assistance will provide food and improve nutrition for more than one million crisis-affected people, including refugees and individuals facing severe malnutrition. The United States continues to stand with the people of South Sudan as the country experiences compounding crises. See our latest humanitarian fact sheet and map for more details on our humanitarian assistance.
 USAID Mission Director Haven Cruz-Hubbard distributes radios to USAID-supported peace-building groups in Leer. Photo: Courtney Cox/USAID
USAID Distributes Radios to Peace-Building Communities in Leer County
On June 30, a U.S. Embassy team visited Leer County to monitor USAID’s peace-building activity, Shejeh Salam. In April, Leer was devastated by communal conflict and atrocities committed against innocent men, women, and children. Community members shared accounts of unspeakable violence, including murder and sexual and gender-based violence. USAID Mission Director Haven Cruz-Hubbard distributed radios to peace-building community groups loaded with pre-recorded programming in the local language to enable the communities to access local and national news about the ongoing national peace process. USAID will support the reconstruction of Naath FM community radio station in Leer, which was destroyed after civil war erupted in 2013. Getting Naath FM back on air would reinstate an important source of local news for the community.
 Vaccination for COVID-19 in Mangalla camp for internally displaced persons. Photo: CORE Group
COVID-19 Vaccines Reach Internally Displaced Persons at Mangalla Camp
Early this year, USAID rolled out COVID-19 vaccination in Mangalla internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Juba County, which hosts more than 38,000 IDPs from Jonglei State and Juba County’s Gondokoro Payam. Many IDPs were initially reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and USAID increased its engagement and public communications, adjusting its approach from designated sites to outreach vaccination. This increased vaccinations from five people per day to an average of 40. The number of people vaccinated for COVID-19 in Mangalla IDP camp is now 3,175. “I`m so happy that I got vaccinated today. I have lived in Mankaro for two years now. I have lost hope of relocating back to the island with my family. The water levels keep increasing and displacing us, but there is nowhere we can settle. It’s better for us to be healthy to fight the virus than to die from the disease and hunger at the same time,” said a 65-year-old IDP.
 The Guirbai women’s group in Abiemnom County, Unity State, launched a bakery with funds they saved through a village savings and loan association. Photo: Samaritan's Purse
Village Savings and Loan Associations Help Launch Small Businesses
USAID funds humanitarian partner Samaritan’s Purse to train communities on establishing and managing village savings and loan associations, which enable members to borrow from pooled funds to launch small businesses. Assistance includes training to identify members and group leadership, develop group constitutions, manage the group’s finances, and ensure proper record keeping for all financial transactions. The Guirbai women’s group in Abiemnom County, Unity State, saved 180,000 South Sudanese pounds (SSP) in three months and launched a bakery, which generated a profit of 4,800 SSP per day. “The profit we generate per day of sales of bread is complementing the one we get from vegetable sales. We thank you for the wonderful effort and for recognizing the women in the community,” said Ajak, the group’s bookkeeper. USAID has supported similar activities in Mayendit and Mayom Counties. Some businesses established through village savings and loan associations include milling shops, tractor renting, tailoring, solar-powered phone charging, use of a grinding machine, a barbershop, a restaurant, and tea shops.
 Beekeepers process honey. Photo: Sustainable Agriculture for Economic Resiliency
USAID-Supported Beekeepers Cooperative Increases Honey Production
In Wau County, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, beekeeping is an under-developed livelihood activity despite growing local and international demand for high-quality honey. Like other beekeepers in South Sudan, beekeeping cooperatives in Wau face challenges of using traditional forms of beehive management, harvesting, and processing, resulting in frequent bee deaths and low-quality honey. USAID funded the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to train the Kuberi-Sag beekeeping cooperative on improved production, harvest, packaging, and marketing techniques. They were given equipment including beekeeping personal protective equipment, honey extractors, smokers, honey bottles, hive tools, wax, buckets, and scales. After being trained on use of the honey extractor, the group increased its production from five to 20 liters per day and began supplying honey to local hotels and traders in Wau town. “Now we have pure natural honey that we packaged ourselves and sell in Wau. We added so much value to our honey with proper packaging, labeling bottles with our logo, and having the honey certified by the National Bureau of Standards,” said the cooperative’s chairperson.
 A clinician at Blessings Health Clinic in Juba describes to USAID's Jimmy Yuga the family planning methods offered at the clinic. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
Family Planning Services Offered as Part of Basic Health Care
Blessing Medical Clinic in Juba's Hai Tarawa neighborhood is one of eight private clinics partnering with USAID to provide family planning services. Since January, Blessing Medical Clinic has provided family planning services to an average of 20 clients per month. Most clients are women who want to space their childbirth. Contraceptives or family planning methods can prevent unintended pregnancies and enable women to space childbirth and recover fully after childbirth. South Sudan has one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates—1,500 per 100,00 live births. Most maternal deaths in South Sudan occur at childbirth. “I’m a mother of four children. I have been having frequent pregnancies. With the current economic hardship, I have decided on family planning to help me space children and look for a job,” said one 35-year-old beneficiary.
 A community outreach volunteer updates health register in Juba. Photo: Achan Gladys
Dedicated Community Outreach Volunteer Assists HIV-Positive Neighbors
An HIV-positive patient who began antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2018 stopped taking her medicine for nearly two years because her religious belief discourages the use of conventional medicine. Her health deteriorated, she lost weight, and suffered from HIV-related infections. A community outreach volunteer working with USAID’s Advancing HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control Activity encouraged the patient to resume ART, and her health improved. The woman became a community outreach volunteer herself, working in her community by sharing her knowledge and experience, encouraging clients to continue their treatment, and delivering ART refills to clients who are unable to visit health facilities. There are 8,825 clients receiving care and treatment through this activity.
 A community member speaks during a dialogue on menstrual hygiene awareness. Photo: Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene activity
Menstrual Hygiene Information Campaign in Wau, Jur River
On May 28, USAID’s Afia Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Activity conducted a menstrual hygiene campaign in Wau and Jur River Counties to promote good menstrual hygiene management for women and adolescent girls. The campaign reached 1,037 people, including men, to highlight the importance of access to reusable sanitary pads and help girls avoid missing school during menstruation. Local communities have resisted accepting reusable sanitary pads based on myths that they could cause infertility among young women. Reusable sanitary pads are affordable and can be reused for up to six months. The campaign team used radio, drama, and dialogue to inform the communities. As one chief said, “I will now prioritize supporting my grandchildren to know how to gain access to sanitary pads to enable their continuity in schools and participation in public life.”
 A friendly basketball match between U.S. Embassy colleagues, including USAID, vs. the Luol Deng Foundation. Photo: Luol Deng Foundation
U.S. Embassy, Luol Deng Foundation Compete in Friendly Basketball Match
On June 20, the U.S. Embassy invited USAID partner the Luol Deng Foundation to a friendly basketball match at the U.S. residential compound in Juba. The Luol Deng Foundation team had enthusiastic and energetic young players and won the game, amid enthusiastic cheering and laughter. Since January 2022, USAID has partnered with the Luol Deng Foundation to increase resilience among South Sudanese youth aged 13-29, help them develop life skills, and strengthen social cohesion among South Sudan’s diverse communities.
 These gumboots symbolize support USAID provides in often muddy, wet, and flooded conditions in South Sudan. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
USAID Partners Display Items that Show the Breadth of USAID Assistance
On June 30 in Juba, our development and humanitarian assistance partners showcased the creative ways they communicate about USAID assistance to the people of South Sudan—even on practical gumboots. USAID's brand represents the goodwill of the American people through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance. USAID is the largest donor of development and humanitarian assistance to the people of South Sudan.
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