Situation Overview: Central and Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan April - June 2018 REACH Area of Knowledge (AoK) settlement coverage - April 2018 REACH Area of Knowledge (AoK) settlement coverage - May 2018 Introduction Figure 1: KIs interviewed in each REACH base Map 2: REACH assessment coverage of Central and Eastern Equatoria States, April (A), May (B) covering Central and Eastern Equatoria States and June 2018 (C) Continued insecurity along roads and a lack of (A) (B) adequate access to food across South Sudan’s Juba Kapoeta Moyo greenbelt region in Central and Eastern Phone 186 KIs 52 KIs Equatoria States have caused humanitarian In person 155 KIs REACH Area of Knowledge (AoK) settlement coverage - June 2018 needs to worsen over the second quarter of 2018. Many areas in these states are largely well as through direct in-person KI interviews in (C) inaccessible to humanitarian actors due to Kapoeta town, Kapoeta South County. insecurity. As a result, only limited information is available on the humanitarian situation outside From April to June 2018, REACH interviewed 0 - 4.9% 21 - 50% of a few large towns and displacement sites. 393 KIs that had knowledge about 377 different 5 - 10% 51 - 100% settlements: 195 settlements in all six counties In order to fill these information gaps and 11 - 20% Assessed settlement improve the humanitarian response, REACH of Central Equatoria State and 182 settlements This Situation Overview provides a summary Equatoria State and Magwi and Torit Counties began collecting monthly data on hard-to- in six out of eight counties of Eastern Equatoria of displacement trends in addition to access in Eastern Equatoria State during the second reach areas in the Greater Equatoria region State (Figure 1). Primary data collection to food and other basic services for both quarter.1 In addition to general insecurity, from January 2017 through interviews with was also complemented by interviews with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host several incidents targeted aid workers Key Informants (KIs). Between April and June humanitarian partners based in Kapoeta town. communities across Central and Eastern specifically, including security incidents in Tali, Findings were triangulated with secondary 2018, data was collected through phone call Equatoria States from April to June 2018. The Terekeka County, and outside of Yei town, Yei data, including other assessments conducted interviews with KIs residing across the Greater following analysis will summarize trends for County.2 These incidents have further limited by REACH in Central and Eastern Equatoria Equatoria region and who had direct knowledge the two states overall and zoom into specific humanitarian access to many areas of Central of the situation in a hard-to-reach settlement as States over the reporting period. counties where REACH was able to assess and Eastern Equatoria States, many of which Map 1: Counties in Central and Eastern Equatoria States, June 2018 over 5% of the total settlements for a given are only accessible by road. month (Map 2). On top of persisting insecurity across the area, Population Movement and the onset of the rainy season made mobility Terekeka more difficult due to poor road infrastructure, Lopa Kapoeta Kapoeta Displacement further limiting the ability of humanitarians to North East Juba access isolated populations. Juba Kapoeta town Following the first quarter of 2018 characterized Kapoeta by relative calm in many areas of the Greater Among REACH KIs who reported being new South Yei Lainya Torit Budi Equatoria region, a deterioration of insecurity arrivals to Kapoeta town in June, insecurity Ikotos Kajo-Keji Magwi and humanitarian access was noted in and was reported by a majority (60%) of KIs as Morobo Data collection point Moyo around Yei and Kajo-Keji towns in Central the main push factor, followed by lack of food 1. An analysis of the incidents repertoriated by ACLED data . on political violence in South Sudan suggests a higher volume of incidents of conflict than over the previous quarter ; ADRA. ADRA mourns loss of staff killed in South Sudan. 28 April 2018. 2. OCHA. South Sudan Humanitarian Snapshot. June 2018. Central Equatoria State Uganda as refugees toward areas of Lainya, Returns from Kenya METHODOLOGY which were deemed to be increasingly stable. New displacement Based on REACH Kapoeta Town Road To provide an overview of the situation in While a mix of permanent returns and daily Monitoring for April and May, more households largely inaccessible areas of Central and Following displacement patterns from the cross border movements were reported to be passing through Kapoeta town reported that Eastern Equatoria, REACH uses primary data previous quarter, Central Equatoria State saw they were coming back from Kakuma refugee provided by KIs living in or who have recent localized armed clashes which caused small on the rise in Kajo-Keji County during the first information about various settlements across scale displacement. In Lainya County, civilians quarter of 2018, continued clashes between camp in Kenya than those who reported to 9 the two states, or “Areas of Knowledge” (AoK). were reportedly displaced toward Lainya town armed actors and harassment by security be heading toward Kakuma. In June, the in June due to insecurity. Insecurity in Yei personel have deterred members of the trend reversed, as outbound households Information for this Situation Overview was 10 County also led to displacement of civilians local community from returning from Uganda outnumbered returns from Kakuma. KIs collected through phone calls conducted toward Yei town.3 Similar patterns of civilian refugee settlements over the second quarter.7 suggested that this shift may be explained out of Juba and Moyo with KIs who were in displacement to Yei town had been noted in by a decrease in pull factors to South Sudan the settlements of interest direct in-person Eastern Equatoria State an assessment of Yei town conducted by following a peak of returns at the beginning intervews, and supplemented with face to face REACH in March 2018.4 Insecurity likely Returns from Uganda of the cultivation cycle in April/May. A total of interviews with KIs who had newly arrived to 1,847 South Sudanese were registered as Kapoeta Town. Participants reached through pushed some civilians to cross the border REACH KIs also reported returns toward refugees in Kakuma during the second quarter phone calls were selected through a snowball into the Democratic Republic of Congo or to Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria. However, of 2018.11 sampling technique, where each KI was asked hide into the bush around Lasu, in addition to insecurity was reported in Magwi County limiting access to the area for humanitarian to name two addtional people who could be (Pageri area) in mid-June 2018, which likely While safety on roads reportedly significantly partners based in Yei town.5 An attack on a interviewed. slowed down the influx of returnees toward the improved in the second quarter of 2018 in the peacekeeping convoy on the Yei-Lasu road end of the second quarter of the year.8 Greater Kapoeta area, perceived insecurity A standardised survey tool was used that occured in June, putting a temporary halt to comprised questions on displacement humanitarian movements in the southwestern Map 3: Displacement patterns across Central and Eastern Equatoria, April - June 2018 trends, population needs and access to basic 6 portion of Yei County. Mixed permanent and temporary returns from Uganda to urban areas services. Mixed permanent and temporary returns from Kenya to urban areas KIs reported that major incidents of cattle After data collection was completed, all data Displacement caused by insecurity raidings in April had led civilians from Kajo-Keji Displacement primarily driven by lack of food was aggregated at the settlement level, to move into Ugandan refugee settlements and settlements were assigned the modal in search of safety. Until April, Kajo-Keji Terekeka response. A “no consensus” answer was pastoralists accounted for much of the civilian given and the answers were not included in !Terakeka population that remained inside the county out Lafon reporting. Descriptive statistics and geospatial Kapoeta of fear that they would not be able to keep their North Kapoeta East analysis were then used to analyse the data. Riwoto Juba ! animals in the refugee settlements. ! Imehejek Juba ! Kapoeta ! Returns from Uganda ! (13%). The presence of food distributions was ! Narus ! Budi Lainya Lainya Torit Torit reported as the main pull factor for 22% of Following on trends from the previous quarter, ! Chukudum Yei Yei Magwi ! ! Ikoto!s the KIs who had been displaced to areas in KIs continued to report increasing numbers Ikotos Kajo Keji ! ! Magwi of returning South Sudanese from refugee Kajo-keji Pageri Central or Eastern Equatoria, followed by 16% Morobo reporting the presence of health services and settlements in Uganda. REACH KIs continued ! 16% citing the presence of education services. to report returns of people who were staying in 3. OCHA. Humanitarian Snapshot. June 2018. convoy attack. 26 June 2018. 9. REACH. Kapoeta Town Road Monitoring. May 2018 and 2 4. REACH, Yei Displacement Brief, March 2018. 7. ACLED. Political Violence and Protest Data - South Sudan. REACH Kapoeta Town Road Monitoring, June 2018. 5. Yei Humanitarian Coordination Forum, Meeting Minutes, 4 March - June 2018. 10. Ibid July 2018. 8. Ibid. 6. UNMISS. UNMISS condemns killing of peacekeeper in armed of rural areas and roads of Eastern Equatoria Figure 2: Percentage of assessed settlements in other regions in the country, on the whole early stages of the cultivation cycle prevented State continued to prevent IDPs displaced in reporting inadequate access to food, June 2018 the strategies were less severe, suggesting farmers from planting at a large scale main towns from returning to their settlements that there remain alternative livelihoods when earlier this year. Disruption of cultivation by of origin in rural areas.