ReliefWeb

Highlights

• IOM teams reach populations in need in Baggari, south of Wau
• Rapid response teams conduct oral cholera vaccination campaigns across the country
• IOM expands fuel-efficient stove initiative in the Bentiu PoC site

As the conflict in South Sudan enters its fifth year, humanitarian conditions across the country remain dire and food insecurity has reached record levels. In 2018, an estimated 7 million people will be in need of relief assistance. By the end of 2017, 1.9 million people remained internally displaced and an additional 2.1 million people – an increase of 75 per cent from 2016 – had fled to neighbouring countries. To respond to these expanding needs, aid agencies, including IOM, are appealing for USD 1.7 billion to provide assistance to 6 million people through the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan.

Despite insecurity and access constraints, IOM teams continue to provide assistance to vulnerable populations in remote and hard-to-reach areas. In December, IOM teams deployed to areas south of Wau town, Kapoeta, Mayom, Tonj, Raja, Uror and Budi, as well as in Bentiu and Rubkona towns.

Since access to areas south of Wau town, in particular Baggari, opened in August, IOM teams have undertaken regular missions to provides health and WASH assistance. In December, IOM rapid response teams (RRTs) traveled to Baggari each week to support the Farajahala Primary Health Care Unit, providing technical support and guidance, as well as replenishing supplies.

As part of the Beyond Bentiu Response, IOM water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) teams continue to conduct hygiene promotion in villages near Bentiu. To date, the team has also supported manual drilling of eight boreholes in Bentiu and Rubkona towns, benefiting over 4,000 people, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), the host community and returnees. In addition, IOM Displacement Tracking and Monitoring (DTM) teams continue to register populations in Unity, recently conducting a biometric registration of 4,344 individuals in Koch town.

IOM is coordinating with the Logistic Cluster to begin dry-season pre-positioning, with the IOM-managed Common Transport System delivering over 2,120 metric tons (MT) of humanitarian supplies to relief organizations across South Sudan from 19 November to 17 December.

IOM health staff continue to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS support at primary health care clinics in at the protection of civilians (PoC) sites in Bentiu, Malakal and Wau. For more information, see http://bit.ly/2zFP5SX.