November 2022
We support community-led programs to build resilience and peace.
 Students at the Wau Youth center showcase their woodwork. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
New USAID Initiative Will Empower Youth in South Sudan
USAID this month announced the award of a new four-year USAID Youth Empowerment Activity that will help youth in South Sudan—including girls and young women—gain knowledge and skills that will enable them to lead healthy, engaged, and productive lives. This effort will build on previous U.S. Government investments to enhance the livelihoods, skills, and knowledge of youth across South Sudan, and support local youth organizations with grants, technical training, mentorship, and organizational strengthening. “In addition to expanding youths’ skills and opportunities, we’re building the capacity of local and community-led organizations. USAID has made it a priority to work more closely with local organizations across South Sudan,” said USAID Mission Director for South Sudan Kate Crawford.
 Workers unload USAID-donated bags of sorghum, part of 44,000 metric tons that arrived in Juba this month for people in need in South Sudan. Photo: World Food Program/Eulalia Berlanga
Sorghum Donation Will Feed 950,000 Vulnerable People Over the Next Year
Earlier this month, 44,000 metric tons of sorghum USAID provided for people in need in South Sudan arrived in Juba. This donation will enable our partner the World Food Program to feed 950,000 vulnerable people over the next year. This delivery is part of a larger $282 million allocation from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust to provide critical food assistance from the American people to countries most affected by a historic global food security crisis.
 Theresa Nyaluede prepares World Food Program-provided food for her children at their home in Unity State’s Leer County. Photo: Gabriela Vivacqua/WFP
USAID Partners Respond to Humanitarian Needs Created by Floods
Heavy rains and subsequent flooding adversely affected more than 1 million people and resulted in at least 52 deaths across South Sudan as of late October, according to the United Nations. Flooding has affected nine out of South Sudan’s 10 states, with Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Warrap, and Western Equatoria states most severely affected. In response, relief organizations are providing emergency food, health, protection, and shelter assistance to flood-affected communities. The UN World Food Program (WFP) reached more than 308,000 flood-affected people with food assistance as of mid-November. WFP’s flood response activities—funded in part by USAID—have supported vulnerable South Sudanese individuals to provide nutritious foods for their families. “We were displaced by the floods," said Theresa Nyaluede, a recipient of WFP’s food assistance in Unity State. "Before we had our own farm, we had the food, we had the animals. Now, we depend on WFP’s assistance." With USAID support, WFP plans to continue flood response activities in the coming months as flooding further exacerbates food insecurity and contributes to displacement across South Sudan.
 Left to right: USAID/South Sudan Acting Health Office Director Monica Villanueva, USAID Afia Water, Sanitation and Hygiene activity Chief of Party Dr. Dennis Mwanza, and UNFPA Gender Analyst Viola Aluel Riak in the Eye Radio studio in Juba. Photo: Victor Lugala
USAID, Partners Discuss 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
USAID/South Sudan Acting Health Office Director Monica Villanueva, UNFPA Gender Analyst Viola Aluel Riak, and USAID Afia Water, Sanitation and Hygiene activity Chief of Party Dr. Dennis Mwanza spoke with Eye Radio on November 25, the first day of the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), about USAID's and our partners' efforts to prevent and respond to the GBV crisis in South Sudan. “I want to appeal to the men out there that it is not manly to be perpetrating gender-based violence,” said Dr. Mwanza. “If you promote peaceful living with women in our families, I think that is what is manly. GBV is a crisis, this country is endowed with so many resources, we should not spend all our energies on wrong things, which is GBV. It is a setback to development.”
 Then-Acting USAID Mission Director Darren Manning (right) hands over seeds to a beneficiary, as USAID Economic Growth Office Director Taisha Jones (left) looks on. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan Activity on November 3 donated seeds, tools and agricultural equipment to six South Sudanese organizations for distribution to smallholder farmers and small enterprises to improve food security and livelihoods in Akobo, Budi, Jur River, Kapoeta North and Wau Counties. The items included seeds for diverse crops to improve nutrition, agricultural tools and equipment, fishing equipment, fish cold storage and supplies to support Village Savings and Loan Associations. “I’m very happy today because this donation will improve crop yield of our farmers and generate income," said Felix Sunday Khamis, leader of one of the recipient organizations.
 Lomor Lokitoi Lochapio transplants eggplant seedlings at Lotakawa Farm in Kapoeta North County. Photo: USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan Activity
Support to Farmers in Kapoeta North Includes Drought-Resistant Crops
In semi-arid Kapoeta North County, USAID Resilience through Agriculture in South Sudan Activity trained nearly 500 lead farmers between April and August, and introduced a variety of drought-resistant, high-yield vegetables such as eggplant, which mature quickly, are economically viable, climate resilient with a high tolerance to drought, and rich in nutrients. With a high local demand for vegetables, community members are growing vegetables both for household consumption and to sell in the local market. The activity supports the community with seeds and agricultural tools, extension services, and training on good agricultural practices.
 An elderly woman enters a new pit latrine built in Nachelepole Village, Kapoeta North County. Photo: USAID Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Activity
Women Lead Efforts to Improve Sanitation in Kapoeta North County
USAID Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene activity initiated a community-led total sanitation initiative in villages lacking sanitation in Kapoeta North County, by providing technical advice for digging and building pit latrines. Women have led efforts to dig and build 40 latrines; 200 more are under construction in Nachelepole village. Afia Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene activity is empowering women and girls to scale up the development of water, sanitation, and hygiene services in South Sudanese communities.
 Gatluak Koang Tut (right), a lead father who has been trained on nutrition in meal preparation, demonstrates preparation of nutritious food made with locally available ingredients. Photo: Samaritan's Purse
Cooking Demonstrations Engage Fathers to Improve Nutrition in Maiwut
While women and girls generally prepare family meals in South Sudan, men can play a vital role in ensuring their families eat sufficient and nutritious food. Through care groups and community education funded by USAID, Samaritan’s Purse trains parents to be “lead mothers” and “lead fathers” in their communities, teaching them key messages on nutrition so both parents are equipped to prevent malnutrition. Gatluak Koang Tut is a lead father in Maiwut County's Pagak Payam. “Since Samaritan's Purse formed care groups in our Pagak Payam, I have benefited from multiple trainings that have impacted my life—especially cooking demonstration training,” Gatluak said. “I learned how to prepare local, nutritious meals and porridge enriched with milk for my children. This is something that does not happen in my culture,” he added. Gatluak enjoys helping to prepare nutritious food while his wife is busy with chores and other activities. After diligently attending the trainings, Gatluak and other lead parents taught nutrition messages to 552 neighborhood men and women and screened 962 children for malnutrition in their communities under the supportive supervision of maternal, infant, and young child nutrition trainers.
 Beneficiaries of USAID’s Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) activity are gaining professional work experience through an internship program at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Juba. Photo: Victor Lugala/USAID
USAID is partnering with the private sector in Juba to equip young women with economic and life skills. Eight female participants of USAID’s Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe (DREAMS) activity, funded through the United States President's Emergency Plans for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and implemented by Jhpiego, are enrolled in a three-month internship program on the hospitality business at the Radisson Blu Hotel. “I’m happy to be an intern at the Radisson Blu Hotel. I can’t believe I’m now good at baking cakes, bread, and biscuits. These skills open for me future opportunities,” said one of the interns.
 World Polio Day event in Kapoeta East County. Photo: CORE Group
World Polio Day Events Promote Awareness of Polio Vaccine Benefits
On October 24, the USAID-supported CORE Group and other partners supported and organized the first-ever World Polio Day commemoration event in Yei, Kapoeta East, and Maridi Counties in Central, Eastern, and Western Equatoria States respectively. The events focused on increasing awareness about the risks of contracting polio and benefits of the vaccine, administering oral polio vaccines to children, training health workers and community volunteers, and strengthening local civil society organizations' ability to conduct surveillance and response to polio and other infectious diseases. “I have seven children and every time I take my children for vaccination. I will encourage other mothers not to deny their children these vaccines,” said a woman in Yei.
 Linda (not her real name), a community outreach volunteer in Juba, reads through a list of clients due for HIV viral load testing. Photo: IntraHealth International
Mother Living with HIV Helps Community Members Access Health Services
USAID’s Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity is providing comprehensive HIV services to 9,910 people in South Sudan since November 2020. Linda (not her real name), age 28 and HIV-positive, has been on anti-retroviral treatment since 2016. Advancing HIV & AIDS Epidemic Control Activity trained her as a community outreach volunteer, provided her with a bicycle to reach communities in Juba with information about HIV treatment and maintaining good health, and to encourage pregnant women to seek antenatal care services and assisted birth at a health facility. “My second child acquired HIV at birth because I delivered at home without the help of a midwife. That’s why I educate women on the importance of safe deliveries at a health facility,” Linda said.
 USAID implementing partner staff discuss development principles of collaborating, learning, and adapting. Photo: Gladys Giye Aligo/USAID's Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Support Activity
Applying Development Lessons to Ongoing Activities for Optimal Outcomes
To integrate learning into program management and improve development results, USAID organized a Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) workshop for staff and implementing partners in Juba November 15-17. USAID Mission Director Kate Crawford encouraged implementing partners to integrate these principles into their activities. “I have learned a lot and now I understand the importance of CLA in programming. I will transfer the skills and knowledge I have acquired to my staff to improve the way we implement our activities," said one implementing partner staff member.
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