Ngok* is the 30 years old mother of Adhieu, a 13 months year old girl, who lost her father during revenge killings in Jalle, South Sudan two days after she was born. Ngok’s town, Bor, has faced serious and multiple floods and now her family faces high risk of hunger. Mother and daughter were displaced by the conflict to Agorbaar IDPs camp, where they live now.
Ngok and many others in their village were farmers and fishermen practicing mixed farming (crops and rearing animals). However, Ngok lost everything as a result of the 2022 flood.
Ngok also experienced a large series of attacks causing the loss of life, destruction of infrastructures, and cattle raiding in her town. The flood in 2020 displaced many people to higher grounds for weeks before they were evacuated to a safer location. Since then, Ngok is taking care of her two daughters who, due to the increased insecurity and lack of support, are not attending school.
Floods in South Sudan
Four straight years of flooding, an unprecedented phenomenon linked to climate change, has swamped two-thirds of South Sudan.
Hundreds of thousands of people were trapped beneath the water line, protected only by earthen dykes that must be constantly checked and reinforced to avoid a catastrophic breach.
Child protection risks in Bor
Child protection concerns and interventions of humanitarians in Bor are driven by intercommunal and armed conflicts. The flag of protection concerns was and is being raised by floods, food insecurity, economic crisis, climate change and limited access to basic services.
JF-CPiE project in Bor aims to support vulnerable affected populations in five IDPs camps through the establishment and strengthening of Child protection systems, individual support through case management services , mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), awareness-raising, capacity building, and monitoring and reporting.
The project directly benefits 5,800 program recipients in the Bor South and 3,000 indirect beneficiaries among host communities and from other IDP camps.
Participants are supported mainly through non-focused MHPSS, case management, Child Protection system strengthening, and community-based approaches such as awareness raising on key child protection concerns in the community, child protection prevention messaging, and child help desks.
When JF-CPiE staff met Ngok and Adhieu in February 2022, they were living in Agoorbaar IDPs camp, 23 km away from the main town. Ngok only depended on her vegetable farm by selling okra to earn something for a living, but insecurity became a threat so walking to the farm was imposible.
Because they only depended on what they produced at the farm, Ngok could not longer afford the nutritious need of Adhieu and she was malnourished. In addition, Adhieu’s siblings dropped out of school due to the lack of money. Ngok’s situation was getting worst day by day and she became traumatized and unable to fulfill the daily needs of her children.
Ngok was also worried because she couldn’t afford shelter and other basic needs for her children like clothes, food, and education. They became very vulnerable.
The Child Protection Help Desk focal person identified her when she was unable to buy milk for the child and her psychosocial wellbeing was deteriorating.
“My child life was in critical condition because she could not crawl or even walk due to severe malnutrition
and sickness. Now, I can take good care of my children wellbeing thanks to the skills I acquired from parenting without violence training. I am now living in my own house with my children and we share it together with my mother. I receive food for my baby every month. My children are now attending school regularly and they play with other children peacefully.”
How Ngok’s family was suported?
JF-CPiE supported Ngok’s family with milk and food. The project also supported the enrollment of the children in primary school and facilitated them for referral to the nutrition program.
Ngok’s family is now receiving Plumpy Nuts and CSB++. There has been a huge improvement in Adhieu’s health because of the food supplements. Now, they sleep under a mosquito net to prevent malaria.
The children received school materials and the project is providing psychosocial support through basic counselling, and PSS at the child friendly space and positive parenting without violence training to Ngok to better support her children’s wellbeing. Ngok’s family also benefited from a cash-based intervention from the ECHO project.
- *Not his real name.
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This publication was produced with the financial support of the German Humanitarian Assistance
Its contents are the sole responsibility of Joining Forces and do not necessarily reflect the views of the German Humanitarian Assistance.