A FLEDGLING COUNRY IN CRISIS:  

When South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, hopes soared that the world's newest country could finally be free of decades of violence that had afflicted the region during the preceding 50-year civil war.   Instead, fighting quickly erupted between two dominant tribes (the Dinka and the Neuer), both vying for government control.  By 2013, another brutal civil war broke out within the young South Sudan that has since left 50,000 dead, displaced more than 3.5 million (about 1/4 of the population) and left nearly 5 million facing hunger.  The ongoing violence has triggered extreme economic instability, near famine conditions and nearly non-existent educational opportunities.   

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DISPLACEMENT:

Armed groups indiscriminately target the “valuable” young men from rival tribes, aiming to ultimately extinguish them altogether and establish permanent control. Tension runs so high that even intra-tribal violence has broken out.  Young men literally run for their lives as they constantly flee from place to place in search of fleeting safety. Since so many men can’t work, the oil and farming dependent economy has floundered.

 

As the men leave to fight in the conflict, hide or find new pastures for their livestock, abandoned women and girls struggle to manage and protect the family farm, themselves fending off hunger, illness and rampant sexual assault.  Pre-Adolescent boys left behind are at high risk of being recruited into armed groups and/or criminal behavior.

 

HUNGER AND ILLNESS:

Because of the widespread unrest and displacement, nearly half the population lacks a reliable food source. More than 40% of South Sudan's population - 4.9 million people - do not have enough food to eat.   Economic unrest has led to the highest inflation rate in the world (835%), so the price of basic goods in high demand has skyrocket. Families often eat just one meal a day and sometimes don’t eat for several days at a time.  Clean water deliveries have stopped for fear of attack along roads lined with armed groups.Hospitals and doctors in most villages have moved to the big cities for safety, rendering basic medical treatment unavailable.  Illness is rampant and the scorching heat and monsoons make matters even worse.  Those lucky enough to survive the trek of several hundred miles over dirt roads lined with armed gangs reach UN camps in Kenya and Uganda.  Despite cramped conditions, they at least have access to limited food.

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LACK OF EDUCATION:

Armed groups intentionally target schools for destruction and have even ambushed and killed students in school bus convoys escorted by armed security forces.   If not destroyed, many schools have been shut down by the government or seized for use by these armed gangs or displaced groups.  Any remaining schools lack basic resources and the teachers lack basic training.  Only 27% of South Sudanese adults can read and most teachers have the equivalent of an 8th grade education. 

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With a population of 11 million, South Sudan has a higher proportion of children out of school than any other place in the world. Over half of the country's primary and lower secondary school-age children, up to age 15, are not attending school.  

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Without education, South Sudan faces long-term consequences.  More of its young people are at risk for unhealthy development due to the traumatic experiences of war and lack of proper nutrition.  Illiteracy rates into adulthood will soar even higher. There is also an increased likelihood for continued future conflict due to large numbers of young men recruited into armed groups.  All of the above leads to the inevitable stunting of local community and national development. 

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“At no time is education more important than in times of war. Without education, how will children reach their full potential and contribute to the future and stability of their families, communities and economies?" --  UNICEF Chief of Education Josephine Bourne.