September 2022
We support community-led programs to build resilience and peace.
 U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael J. Adler (right) officiated the swearing-in ceremony of USAID Mission Director for South Sudan Kate Crawford (left) at the U.S. Embassy in Juba on September 8, 2022. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
New USAID Mission Director Kate Crawford Begins Her Post in Juba
USAID Mission Director for South Sudan Kate Crawford was sworn in by U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Michael J. Adler at the U.S. Embassy in Juba on September 8 and began her new role overseeing USAID’s operations as the largest donor to the people of South Sudan. A career USAID Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Crawford has more than 30 years of experience in humanitarian and development programs and global U.S. government initiatives. Most recently, Ms. Crawford was Director of USAID’s Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health, where she focused on expanding USAID’s global immunization programming and technical capacity.
 Farmers benefiting from seed distribution in Kapoeta North County. Photo: Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan
Agriculture Activity Distributes Seeds and Tools, Boosts Seed Production
USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan activity distributed 33 metric tons of seeds and basic hand-held agriculture tools July 27-August 19 to boost crop production in five counties—Akobo, Budi, Kapoeta North, Jur River, and Wau—benefiting 2,585 farmers. The seeds include maize, sorghum, peanuts, sesame, cowpeas, and vegetables including tomatoes, eggplant, kale, cabbage, onions, and okra. The activity also supported 80 seed multiplication farmers in Jur River and Wau counties with peanut seeds. Seed multiplication farming ensures that large quantities of quality seeds are produced locally and made available to other farmers who are otherwise unable to access improved seeds. The seeds are chemically treated so people do not consume them before the planting season, thus encouraging planting to better address South Sudan's widespread food insecurity.
 Youth in Ganyliel, Panyijiar County, were paid to extend the Ganyliel dike to protect Ganyliel's market and airstrip. Photo: Shejeh Salam Activity
Youth Employed to Help Reduce Flood Risks in Panyijiar County, Unity State
USAID Shejeh Salam (Promoting Peace) Activity supported Panyijiar Sports Association to employ youth to rehabilitate five kilometers of the Ganyliel dike to protect Panyijiar's market and airstrip, which had become inaccessible due to floods. Three hundred youth were paid to extend the dike. After recent rains, it was clear that the effort succeeded both in protecting Ganyliel and providing an income-generating opportunity for youth. Panyijiar is one of South Sudan's counties most affected by poverty, insecurity, illiteracy, and floods, which have harmed agriculture and livestock. To address these challenges, Panyijiar is one of the 13 focus counties of USAID's assistance strategy for South Sudan.
 Women learn basic computer literacy skills at the Wau Civic Engagement Center, which USAID established in 2016. Photo: Akau Athanasius/WAU Civic Engagement Center
Wau Civic Engagement Center Is a Hub for Learning and Empowerment
The Wau Civic Engagement Center, which USAID established in 2016, provides Internet connection, computer literacy training, a library, and meeting space for civil society organizations and students, including discussions on civic education, human rights, access to justice, advocacy, and empowerment and leadership of women and youth. An average of 25 people use the center daily. Local civil society organizations pay a modest yearly membership fee and monthly contribution. A user committee selected from the local civil society organizations manages the center, which has ten computers powered with solar energy and a standby generator. “The Wau Civic Engagement Center has exposed me to the humanitarian organizations in Wau, enabling me to get consultancies, contracts, and translation work," said Paskwale Aleu, a regular user of the center since 2018. "The Center has helped me to start my own community-based volunteers’ organization. I love the center because it provides Internet services and space for no pay."
 USAID and U.S. Embassy staff at Voice of Hope Radio in Wau as part of a visit September 13-15 to USAID-funded activities in Wau. USAID supports Voice of Hope Radio to encourage peace and reconciliation.
USAID-Funded Activities in Wau Promote Peace and Reconciliation
A USAID and U.S. Embassy team visited Wau September 13-15 to see USAID-funded activities supporting democracy and governance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene, and meet beneficiaries. USAID Shejeh Salam activity is promoting social cohesion and peaceful coexistence among once-feuding communities through dialogue, and dispensing justice through mobile courts. USAID also supports Voice of Hope Radio, a community radio station affiliated with Catholic Radio Network and the only privately run radio station in Wau County, which reaches listeners with messages of peace and reconciliation. Voice of Hope Radio is credited with building trust among people who were affected by the devastating conflict that began around Wau in 2016, and influenced some internally displaced persons to return to their original homes.
 USAID Shejeh Salam activity supported community peace dialogues in Uror County. Photo: Shejeh Salam
Peace Efforts in Uror County Reduce Violence, Restore Freedom of Movement
USAID Shejeh Salam Activity has contributed to the resolution of a series of conflicts between four major clans in Uror County, resulting in reduced violence and restoring people's freedom of movement. Inter-clan revenge attacks ravaged Uror County between 2017 and 2021. Earlier this year, USAID Shejeh Salam Activity supported the Building Bridge for Peace activity in Uror County that included a two-day trauma awareness session and a two-day peace dialogue in Pieri Town, which led to the amicable resolution of conflicts and the promised payment of compensation for victims of violence.
 Contaminated flood water near the Bentiu internally displaced persons' camp is a source of waterborne disease. Photo: USAID Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support activity
USAID Monitoring Support Helps Contain Bentiu Cholera Outbreak
After the first confirmed case of cholera in April 2022 in the Bentiu internally displaced persons settlement that housed more than 135,000 people, USAID swiftly intervened to address the outbreak, which by August led to one death and 316 diagnosed cases. Heavy rains and poor sanitation and hygiene contributed to the outbreak. USAID’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support activity conducted an initial onsite assessment of USAID-funded health and water, sanitation, and hygiene services and within one week deployed two community monitors to Bentiu to continuously monitor and report on USAID implementing partner efforts to reduce spread of cholera by promoting water, sanitation, and hygiene in the affected areas.
 Peer navigator Wasuk stores antiretroviral medication and antiretroviral therapy cards at home for clients who fear disclosing their HIV status. Photo: Achan Gladys/IntraHealth
Peer Navigators Help Prevent Spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections
To help prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and promote treatment for those infected among the at-risk population of female sex workers in Juba, Wasuk (not her real name) is a peer navigator trained by USAID's Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity to support other female sex workers by encouraging them to adhere to antiretroviral treatment, test their viral load, and utilize health services. Wasuk is helping support 72 clients on antiretroviral therapy. She receives 7,200 condoms and lubricants monthly from the Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity to distribute to other sex workers, promoting knowledge that condom use is an important tool for HIV prevention. “I keep ART cards and tablets for clients who fear to keep them, and ride my bicycle to deliver their daily pills,” Wasuk said. The Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity delivers comprehensive HIV services, creates awareness about gender-based violence and sexually transmitted infections, and provides family planning services to 4,650 female sex workers in Eastern and Western Equatoria states.
 Rose Ukure digs a pit latrine in her compound. Photo: Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Activity
Sanitation Training Spurs Mother of Eight to Dig Pit Latrine for Family Health
In Budi County's Homiri Payam, USAID's Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Activity is helping reduce waterborne diseases by educating residents of 10 villages about the importance of building latrines and ending the practice of open defecation, which is common in South Sudan due to lack of sanitation infrastructure. In Homiri village, one of the villages targeted for Community Led Total Sanitation activities, resident Rose Ukure dug her own latrine after learning from the Afia activity about the benefits of household latrines. Despite that digging a pit latrine is perceived as a task normally done by men, Rose said she could not afford to pay anyone to build her a latrine, so she used locally available materials and some of her older children helped. “I and my household no longer face risks of fly infestation and challenges of waterborne diseases," said Rose, who returned to South Sudan from Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. "It is now obvious that I have a cleaner environment than I used to have, and I see my family’s health is improving."
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