Situation Overview: State, South May 2017

Introduction trends in May, and the second section evaluates State remains highly volatile at the time of the population dynamics in the assessed writing. Displacement trends, population needs and communities, as well as access to food and In PoC, the number of new arrivals humanitarian access have all been negatively PARIANG basic services for both internally displaced (people entering the PoC with luggage and affected by the insecurity resulting from the persons (IDPs) and local communities. ongoing conflict in Unity State, which began intention to stay) decreased from 2,180 new ABIEMNHOM 2 in July 2016. Population Movement and arrivals in March to 774 in May. Similarly,

RUBKONA in Panyijiar, which is traditionally a common To inform humanitarian actors working outside GUIT Displacement MAYOM destination for IDPs fleeing conflict in formal settlement sites, REACH is conducting Main displacement towards Bentiu PoC and southern Unity State, REACH port monitoring3 assessments of hard-to-reach areas in South Panyijiar continued during the month of May, observed a decline in new arrivals from 2,520 Sudan since December 2015. The data 4 KOCH but seemed to have slightly decreased over in March, down to 761 in April and 972 in May. is being collected through interviews on a the course of the previous months. This may These numbers suggest, that less people are monthly basis from communities across the be indicative of slight improvements in the being displaced which might be indicative of Greater region, Greater Equatoria LEER MAYENDIT security and the upscale in food distributions, slight improvements in security situation in region and . Assessed settlements Settlement which improved food security situation in some parts of Unity State and the upscale in food Cover percentage of assessed settlements Between 17 and 30 May 2017, REACH relative to the OCHA (COD) total dataset: central Unity state counties. Despite apparent distributions in counties of central Unity State interviewed a total of 349 Key Informants (KIs) 0% improvements, the security situation in Unity since March. 1 0.1 - 4.9% PANYIJIAR from 197 settlements situated in 7 of the 9 5 - 10% Figure 1: Top three reasons reported by new Overall, Bentiu PoC population has seen a counties in Unity State. In the Bentiu Protection 10.1 - 20% arrivals for leaving previous location, May decrease in numbers since March, indicative of Civilians site (Bentiu PoC), 307 KIs were 20.1 - 50% 20171 > 50% of return movements. As a continuation of interviewed, and 42 were interviewed in Nyal. 1. Insecurity 68% the trend beginning in March, the number of Map 1: REACH assessment coverage of Unity The findings were triangulated through four people counted by IOM head count suggests State, May 2017 2. Lack of food 49% focus group discussions (FGDs), secondary a decline in numbers of people permanently data and previous REACH assessments of the current displacement and population 3. Lack of health services 47% living inside the PoC. In May 117,046 have hard-to-reach areas of Unity State. dynamics. The remaining 9% had recent been counted as compared to 121,225 in information about certain villages through Figure 2: Top three reasons reported by new Since 91% of the respondents interviewed arrivals for coming to their current location, March,5 which represents a decline of 4,179 contact with someone (usually a relative) that 1 had arrived at their formal displacement May 2017 inhabitants over the course of 2 months. This is currently living there. site within the last 30 days, they had up-to- 1. Security 65% trend is likely attributable to the beginning of date information about the village of former This Situation Overview focuses on changes the cultivation season during which people 2. Access to healthcare 53% residence. This information, therefore, in humanitarian needs observed since early return to their settlements to prepare the provides an accurate understanding of 2017. The first section analyses displacement 3. Access to food 51% land for cultivation for the planting season, : 1 Respondents could choose more than one option. 4. These are indicative trends; REACH does not record all arrivals and departures. 2 IOM, Bentiu PoC Site Profile, May 2017 and March 2017. 5. IOM, Bentiu PoC Population Count records March and May 2017 3. REACH, Nyal Port Monitoring, May 2017. despite pronounced insecurity in the area. The access to food distribution in case of renewed METHODOLOGY vast majority of those leaving the PoC (mainly displacements. To provide an overview of the situation in in and Guit) are female,6 unlike in However, not all displaced people are able or largely inaccessible areas of Unity State, demographic profile of those leaving Nyal PARIANG willing to undertake the risky journey to formal REACH uses primary data provided by key where gender distribution is more even. This is ABIEMNHOM displacement sites. Indicative of increase in informants who have recently arrived, or likely attributable to ongoing forced recruitment ● ● internal displacement, in Leer and in Mayendit receive regular information, from their pre- ● ● ● ● ● in the north of Unity State, which reportedly ● ● ● ● ● ● RUBKONA ● ● ● ● ● ● ● the proportion of assessed settlements ● ● displacement location or “Area of Knowledge” ● ● ● ● GUIT ● prevents many males from leaving the PoC. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● MAYOM ● reporting IDP presence has increased from ● ● ● ● (AoK). ●● ● ●● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● New arrivals to Bentiu PoC were mostly from ● ● 39% of assessed settlements in April to 49% in ● ● ● ● ● Information for this report was collected from ● ● 7 ● ● ● Leer and Mayom , which is likely attributable ● ● May. FGD participants described that the road ● key informants in the Bentiu Protection of ● ●

to volatile security situation in Leer and rapid ● towards formal displacement sites is high risk; ● KOCH ● Civilians (PoC) site and Nyal in Unity State ● ● ● ● deterioration in food security and security in ● ● ● ● incidents of lootings and killings along the way ● ● ● ● ● ● throughout May 2017. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●● ● Mayom. In Nyal, most of the new arrivals came ●● ● ● ● ●● are a common occurrence. Many people, often ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●● ● ● ●●● The first phase of the assessment methodology ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● from conflict-affected Leer (56%) and Mayendit ● ● ● the most vulnerable and their caregivers, might ● ● ● LEER ● ● comprised a participatory mapping exercise to (41%),8 which is consistent with previous MAYENDIT● therefore flee to other settlements in the same map the relevant settlements in Unity State. months. county or hide in the bushes or swamps, with In-depth interviews were then conducted with ● ● ● ● minimal to no access to basic services, hoping ● ● ●●● selected participants using a standardised Insecurity remains the largest push factor for ● ● ● ● for an improvement in the security situation displacement in May, as cited by 68% of new ● survey tool comprising questions on PANYIJIAR ● and a quick return to their settlements. Regular

● ●● displacement trends, population needs, and arrivals. Such high proportions of new arrivals ● ●● ●

● patrols along main displacement routes could access to basic services. citing insecurity as main reason to leave their ● ● previous location suggests that large parts help reduce the risk of lootings and attacks After data collection was completed, all along the way and ensure safer passage to of Unity State remain highly volatile and Map 2: Proportion of settlements reporting an data was examined at the settlement level, displacement sites. and settlements were assigned the modal populations fear upsurge in violence. As has IDP presence, May 2017 response. When no consensus could be been the case in previous months, second most and early 2017.9 Despite this limited access to Situation in Assessed prevalent push factor has been food insecurity, found for a settlement, that settlement was not food for new arrivals, FGDs conducted in Bentiu Communities included in reporting. Descriptive statistics and cited by 49%. PoC suggest that many of them prefer to stay geospatial analysis were then used to analyse Although access to food has been mentioned inside the PoC, due to insecurity in their home Demographic profile the data. as one of the most important pull factors to county and perceived physical protection inside Remaining population in assessed villages It must be noted that this represents a change come to Bentiu PoC, access to food to new the PoC. However, in the absence of access in methodology as of December 2016, arrivals remained limited (the last registration to food distributions, those displaced families Of the settlements assessed in May, 9% as REACH previously analysed data at the of new arrivals to access food distributions that do not have a support network (usually reported that the entire population had left community level. This means that this report and other services in Bentiu PoC took place in family members) inside the PoC to share food the area. Of those settlements reporting that is not directly comparable with Situation July 2016). Approximately 6,700 unregistered rations might see themselves forced to return at least some of the population still remained Overviews from before December 2016. individuals are estimated to be living inside the to insecure areas of Unity State. Regular there, 58% reported a population decrease of PoC, most of which arrived at the end of 2016 registrations of new residents would facilitate 50% or more, suggesting that depopulation

6. IOM, Bentiu DTM records May 2017. 9. Bentiu ICWG, Advocacy paper- Biometric Registration of Unregistered IDPs in the 2 7 IOM, Bentiu PoC Site Profile, May 2017. Bentiu PoC site, May 2017. 8. REACH, Nyal Port Monitoring, May 2017. remains pronounced in Unity State. Figure 3:Proportion of assessed settlements into previous lower proportions of 45% in March a direct result of the large upscale in food in reporting IDP presence, May 2017 and 39% in February. humanitarian assistance in Leer and Mayendit The majority of assessed settlements (78%) during the month of May.10 with still some population remaining reported 39% of assessed Although the proportion of settlements that most of the local community continued to settlements reported indicating adequate access to food suggests an Unlike in central and south of Unity State, live in their own home, while 17% reported that IDP presence improvement in food security situation in Unity the food security situation in the north of the majority were living in another home in the State since February, it must be noted that there Unity State seemed to have deteriorated 61+39+A are notable differences between developments rapidly since February, with far less assessed same village. Comparable to the previous two in central and south of Unity State (Koch, settlements reporting adequate access to food months (March and April), still 5% of assessed local populations within central Unity State or Mayendit, Leer and Panyijiar), as opposed to in April (25%) and May (24%), compared to the settlements reported that the majority of people from central Unity State down to comparatively the north of Unity State (Mayom, Rubkona, months before (e.g. February at 85%). This is in the settlement were living in the bush, which more stable Panyijiar. however represented an improvement since Guit). In the central and southern part of Unit likely attributable to the depletion of already low the beginning of the year, when 16% and 23% The gender distribution of the IDP population State, as shown by Figure 4, the proportion food stocks aggravated by the continuation of reported the same in January and February, in assessed settlements was unbalanced. Of of assessed settlements reporting adequate the lean season, during which crops are not respectively. In May, all of these settlements the assessed settlements reporting an IDP access to food continuously increased since yet ready for harvest, while food distribution reporting majority of the remaining population presence, 63 % also reported that the majority or February, from 25% of assessed settlements amounts might have not been upscaled to be living in the bush are located in conflict- entirety of the IDP population was female. This reporting adequate access up to 69% in May. accordingly. uneven gender balance of IDP communities This increase in food availability is most likely affected Leer and Mayendit. This is consistent Of those population reporting insufficient with FGDs conducted with new arrivals from is most likely a direct result of the conflict, as conflict-affected areas of Unity State, which many men and boys have been recruited by Figure 4: Proportion of assessed settlements reporting adequate access to food, North indicated that remaining population’s first armed actors operating in Unity State. Women vs. Central and South Unity State, Jan-May 2017 response to approaching fighting is to flee to in FGDs undertaken in Bentiu PoC explained the bush or to the swamp. They often remain that the burden on female heads of household there for several days until security situation of sole caregivers and breadwinners weighs improves before returning to the settlements or, heavy, especially when displacement has led to in case of continuous insecurity, before moving the breakdown of support structures, which are to a more permanent displacement location. usually provided by family and community. IDP population in assessed villages Food security Of the settlements assessed, 39% reported The food security situation in May has the presence of IDPs in their settlement of remained similar to April, with 54% of assessed knowledge in May, which is comparable to settlements reporting adequate access to food the previous months (31% in April and 33% (compared to 57% the preceding month). This in March). The highest proportion of IDP indicates that the up-scale in food distributions presence, as illustrated by Map 2, had been through rapid response missions, which reported in Panyijiar, as well as Leer and followed the declaration of localized famine in Mayendit, reflective of ongoing displacement of February, is successfully preventing a relapse 10 WFP, RRM update, May 2017. 3 Figure 3: Proportion of settlements reporting access to agricultural inputs, January-April of fighting in July 2016, which interrupted Figure 5:Primary food source per proportion of selling assets or livestock are completely 2017 cultivation activities and let to large-scale assessed settlements, Jan-May 2017 eroded, thus further impacting the populations’ displacement of farmers.11 Another 30% food security situation. April 56% PARIANGPARIANG reported that natural disaster (flooding) had The food security situation is likely to deteriorate destroyed harvests during the previous planting March 44% ABIEMNHOMABIEMNHOM throughout the next weeks and months as ●● season. Natural disaster as main cause for ●● ● the lean season continues. Therefore, food ● February 39% ● ●● ● ● ● ●● ●● ● ●● ●● ● ●● ● low cultivation levels in 2016 had been most RUBKONA ●● ● RUBKONA● ● ●● ●● ● ● ● ●● ● ● assistance, especially in northern Unity State, ● ● ● ●● ●● ● ●● GUITGUIT ●● ●● ● ●● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● prevalent in Mayom, where consistently over ● ●● ●● ● MAYOM ● ● ● ● ●●● ● ● January ● where the situation seems to be rapidly 36% ● ●●● ● ● ●●● ● ●● ●● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● 85% of assessed settlements cited this as main ●● ●● ●● ●● ● ●● ● deteriorating, would need to be maintained ● ● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● reason since the beginning of the year (86% in 12 ●● ●● ●● and, ideally, scaled-up . ●● ●● May). Lower than average food stock levels ●● ●● KOCHKOCH ●● ●●

● ● ●● are consequently a leading cause for severe ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●● Livelihoods ● ●● ● ● ● ●● ● ●●● ●● ●● ●● ● ●● ●● ●● ● ●●● ● ●● ●● ●●● ● ●● food insecurity in Unity State in 2017. ● ●●● ● ● ● ●●● ●● ● ● ●● ● ● ●●● ● ● ●● ● ● ●●●●●● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● ●● ●● ●●●● ●● ● ●●●●● ● ●● ● ●●●● Although 82% of assessed settlements ●● ●● ●● ● ● ● ●● ● ●●●●● ●● ●● ●● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● necessary food ration for the month. As long ● As illustrated by Figure 5, the majority of ● LEERLEER ● ● ● ●● MAYENDIT●● reportedly have access to land, lack of MAYENDIT as safety and stability is not restored in Unity assessed settlements (57%) reported agricultural inputs in more than half of the State, these practices will further undermine food distributions as primary food source assessed settlements (57%) is hampering ●● ●● ● ● ●● ●●●● ●●●● humanitarian efforts to provide lifesaving aid. ●● in May. This was the highest proportion ● ● ●● sustainable livelihoods activities. This is ●● ●● ●● ever recorded by AoK data, indicative PANYIJIARPANYIJIAR All settlements reported that most people were supported by a recent rapid market assessment

●●

●● of increasing reliance on humanitarian ● ●●● ● ●●●● ● using a number of concerning food consumption in Koch, Rubkona and Guit, during which lack of ● ●●●● food aid assistance for subsistence. At the ●● related strategies to cope with the lack of food, agricultural inputs, lack of access to land due to same time, cultivated food has been cited including eating wild foods such as water lilies insecurity and birds/pests have been identified Map 3: Proportion of settlements reporting by a continuously decreasing proportion of and khodra (29%), reducing the number of as main constraints to crop production.13 Such adequate access to food, May 2017 assessed settlements as reported primary food meals per day (64%), and skipping all meals high percentages of settlements reporting a lack access to food, insecurity continues to be the source since the beginning of the year (14% a day entirely (20%). FGDs on current coping of agricultural inputs are particularly worrisome, most prevalent reason for this. Thirty-nine per in May). This is likely attributable to the rapid strategies, which have been conducted at the as the rainy season - traditionally the season cent of those settlements reported that their depletion of cultivated food stock during the end of April, disclosed that coping strategies for cultivation - usually starts around May. crops had been destroyed by fighting, while lean season. related to increase of resource capacity like Low cultivation levels caused by conflict and 18% indicated it was too unsafe to access As reliance on food aid increased, safe access flooding in 2016 have been one of the main the land. As indicated by FGD participants Figure 6:Proportion of assessed settlements to and from food distribution sites remained a causes for extreme food insecurity in Unity the outbreak of heavy fighting in July 2016 reporting lack of agricultural inputs, May 2017 key concern. To access distribution sites people State in early 2017. Therefore, targeted seeds disrupted cultivation activities in large areas of (mostly women) often walk several hours up to 57% of assessed and tools distributions to stable high-land Unity State. According to the Crop and Food several days. FGD participants in Bentiu PoC, settlements reported pockets during this year’s cultivation season Security Assessment Mission, the nationwide described that lootings along the way or attacks Iack of agricultural would be of crucial importance to ensure higher harvest outputs in 2016 have been 10% below on villages directly after food distributions are inputs cultivation levels, which will be the basis of food the output in 2015, mainly due to outbreak common, which deprives families of their 43+57+A security for the next lean season. It must be

11 FAO/WFP, Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to , May 2017. Unity State, March 2017. 4 12 For more information on the food security situation in Unity State, please refer to 13 DRC, Rapid Market Assessment Report to investigate the feasibility of cash based REACH, Situation Overview: Unity State, April 2017 and REACH, Situation Overview: interventions in Guit, Koch and Rubkona Counties, April 2017. noted however, that livelihoods interventions, by over 80% of assessed villages, are armed are strongly dependent on the security context. groups. GFD participants described that it Protection has become increasingly difficult to ascribe a PARIANG political affiliation to many of the experienced PARIANG The security situation in Unity State remained security incidents. Especially cattle raiding, ABIEMNHOM ABIEMNHOM ● volatile during the month of May, due to ● lootings and sexual violence were reportedly ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● presence of armed elements in central Unity ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● RUBKONA often undertaken by so called “youth of ● ● ● ● ● ● RUBKONA ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● GUIT ● ● ● ● GUIT ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● State and forced recruitment in the northern ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● unknown affiliation”, who are often operating ● ● MAYOM ● ● ●● ● ● MAYOM ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● part. This is likely the reason for the low levels ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● solely for self-benefit. Addressing security ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● of assessed settlements (39%) reporting ● ● ● ● ● threats that come from groups with no political ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● perceived physical protection was available. ● ● affiliation might be particularly challenging ● ● ● KOCH ● ● ● KOCH ● ● ● ● ● This is comparable to April (37%) and ● ● ● ● ● for humanitarian and human rights actors, as ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● represented a steady deterioration in perceived ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●● ●● ● traditional forms of advocacy and leverage that ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ●●● ●● ● security since February (46%) and January ● ● ● ● ●●● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ●● are used with organised armed groups may not ● ● ● ● ● ● ● LEER ● ● ● ● LEER ● ● MAYENDIT● (63%). MAYENDIT● have the same effect on unorganised armed For men, injury and killing has been cited as groups.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● main protection concern in 57% of assessed ● ● ● ● ●●● ● ● Water and Sanitation ● ● ● settlements. As a likely reflection of volatile ● ● ● PANYIJIAR PANYIJIAR ●

● ● Access to safe drinking water remained low ●● security situation in central Unity State, killing ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●

● ● ● and injury appeared to be most prevalent in ● ● in May. Only 57% of assessed settlements ● Leer and Mayendit, where 84% (Mayendit) and ● reported access to clean water (usually a 93% (Leer) of assessed settlements reported borehole), a proportion comparable to previous Map 5: Proportion of settlements reporting Map 4: Proportion of settlements reporting moths (e.g. 58% in February). Of these this as main security concern. Second most access to safe water, May 2017 access to health services, May 2017 common risk for men appeared to be forced settlements, the vast majority (98%) were able recruitment which has been reported by 27% reported by 32% of assessed settlements, to walk to the water source, fetch the water and sharp decrease from 79% in February to 39% of assessed settlements, predominantly in followed by killing and injury (12%). Women walk back within one hour or less. in May. In the absence of safe drinking water, explained that exposure to sexual violence people resorted to drinking water directly from Guit, Rubkona, Koch and Mayom. A recent Access to safe drinking water has been was highest during firewood collection, during the river, while in areas located far from the assessment undertaken by the Danish Refugee reported lowest in Rubkona, Guit and Mayendit, travels to General Food Distributions (FGDs) riverside, it was common to construct hand- Council on the protection situation in compared to the other counties in Unity State. and during general looting attacks on villages dug wells during the dry season, as has been in , suggested that idleness of In May, only one third (33%) of assessed by armed actors. In light of this situation, reported by FGDs. These forms of untreated young men, due to lack of income generating settlements in both counties reported access specialized psychosocial support to survivors sources of water may often be contaminated activities as well as education, is a contributing, to safe drinking water, a proportion that has 14 of sexual and gender-based violence, as well with bacteria or parasites, and lead to severe making them an easy target for recuitment. been consistently low since the beginning of as specialized clinical assistance, remains of sickness and death. For women, the main security concern the year (February: 32 % in Guit and 33% in key importance. Most likely perpetrator for all of continued to be sexual violence, as has been Rubkona). Mayendit, on the other hand, saw a Further, open defecation continued be reported these security concerns, as has been reported

14. DRC, Protection Assessment Report, Mankien, Mayom County, May 2017. 5 Figure 7: Most commonly reported heath services. Of the assessed settlements reporting by community volunteers, who often teach concerns in assessed settlements, May 2017 access to health services, 67% reported that the children under a tree in the village or a 1 Malaria 86% the health facility could be reached by walking makeshift rakooba, as has been reported PARIANG 2 Typhoid 34% for one hour or less. during FGDs. Access to teaching materials ABIEMNHOM reportedly presented a major challenge to these Pneumonia 34% Of those reporting no access to health services, ● 3 improvised learning spaces. Where education ● half of assessed settlements cited the direct ● ● ● Diarrhea 29% ● ● 4 ● ● ● ● ● ● RUBKONA ● service providers are not able to reach with ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● or indirect impact of the ongoing conflict as ● ● ● ● GUIT ● ● ● ● ● ● Cholera 22% ● ● ● ● 5 ● ● formal services and where appropriate, the ● ● MAYOM ● ● ● ● ● the most important reason. Conflict-related ●● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● provision of basic teaching material and ● ● ● ● factors include insecurity, facilities destroyed by ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● stationary to improvised learning spaces would as a common practice in most of the assessed ● ● ● violence, and the abandonment of facilities by ● ● enhance these improvised learning spaces. villages; only 12% of assessed settlements ● ● KOCH ● medical staff. Thirty-eight per cent reported that ● ● ● ● ● ● reported that a part of the community was ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● no health facility had ever existed in their area, ● Education rates have been recorded lowest ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●● ● ●● ● ● ● ●● using latrines. FGD participants reported that ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●●●● ● while lack of medication has been cited by the ● in Mayendit, with only 10% of assessed ●●● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● ● people tended to defecate into the water when ● ● ● ● ● LEER remaining 12%. ● ● settlements reporting access to education, MAYENDIT● close to rivers or areas inside swamps, which followed by Rubkona at 22% and Mayom at As illustrated by Figure 7, malaria was identified subsequently led to the contamination of their 29%, as shown by Map 6. Most cited reasons

● as among the three main health concerns by ● ● ● ● ● only drinking water source. ● ●● ● ● for absence of education services in these

● 86% of the assessed settlements, followed ●

● The reparation and construction of safe water PANYIJIAR counties has been reportedly lack of facilities

by typhoid and pneumonia (34%). Given that ●

● ●● ● ●● or facilities that were too far away, as well as sources, with particular focus on Rubkona common diseases like malaria are anticipated to ● ● ●

● conflict-related reasons, including destruction and Guit, where access to safe drinking spread during the rainy season, there is a need of learning facilities during conflict, flight water has continuously been reported lowest, for provision of insectisized mosquito nets and of teachers and general insecurity which remain thus of key importance in terms of repellents, as well as curative strategies, such Map 6: Proportion of settlements reporting prevented students from attending school WASH interventions. Better hygiene practices as upscaling of medical services and supplying access to education services, May 2017 (see Figure 7). FGDs with participants from should be promoted in whole of Unity State, as essential medicines. Top needed medications northern Unity State suggested that many of numbers of latrine usage were generally low. identified by KIs include malaria medication, in Guit in March and also, in other counties the voluntary teachers were forced to flee their followed by treatment of diarrhea (ORS), of Unity State, assistance to other education Health settlements because of suggested intensive paracetamol and nutritional supplements facilities has been scaled up, which is likely a Access to health services in Unity State reason for these improvements. forced recruitment activities (see protection Education section) and decrease in food security. Another remained low in May, with 58% of assessed In the absence of functioning public education reason for the limited reported access to settlements reporting access. This appears Although still low, access to education improved, system in Unity State, education was regularly education in northern counties of Unity State are to be a gradual improvement from the 44% with 40% of assessed settlements reporting provided or supported by established NGOs the nomadic movements. These movements reported in March and 52% in April. These slight access to education in May, compared to 29% in operating in the area. In settlements that are related to grazing and search for water as increases might be indicative of improvements April. Partners operating in Unity State reported are hard to reach for service providers, well as displacement due to insecurity of food in the security situation, allowing for safer that 17 new learning spaces have been opened however, education was sometimes provided movement and subsequently easier access to insecurity, and often led families away from

6 Figure 7: Four main reason that education is not reporting permanent tukul as primary shelter conditions seem to vary between counties, accessible, May 2017 26 type has been in Leer (15%) and Mayendit suggesting generally better shelter conditions There were never facilities 26% (35%), indicative of comparatively less stable in comparatively more stable northern PARIANG nearby +21 shelter conditions in these counties. One main counties (Mayom, Guit and Rubkona) and Teachers have been 21% reason for such low proportions of tukuls as ABIEMNHOM Panyijiar than in central Unity State. Overall, +21 displaced ● primary shelter type might be severe shelter 65% of assessed villages reported rakooba ●

●

● ● ● ● ● ● Facility has been 21% ● ●● ● destruction by fighting, which has been cited RUBKONA ● as primary shelter type, followed by tukul in + 19 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● GUIT destroyed by conflict ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● by high proportions of assessed settlements 18% of assessed settlements. However, a ● ● MAYOM ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ● Cannot access due to 19% ● ● ● ● in these counties; in May, 40% of assessed ● worrying high proportion (17%) of assessed ● ● ● ● ● ● ● security concerns ● ● ● ● ● settlements reported shelter destruction settlements, all located in Leer and Mayendit, ● ● ● established services during the dry season. ● ● during the last month (49% in April, 64% in reported improvised shelter as the primary ● ● KOCH ● ●

● ● ● ● March). FGD respondents explained that ● shelter type. ● ● ● ● ● ● Reported attendance rates suggest that far ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ●● ● ●● ●● ● ●● ● ● armed groups regularly attack and loot villages ●● ●● ● ● ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● more boys attended school than girls. The ●●●● ● ● These findings are a strong indication that ●●● ● ● ● ● ●● ● ● ●● during which shelters are burned down. It ● ● ● ● ● ● LEER vast majority (93%) of assessed settlements ● ● shelter needs for IDPs, especially in central MAYENDIT● might be unsurprising therefore, that lack (of those reporting access to education), Unity State remain high. of shelter had been the second most cited reported that half of the boys aged 6 to17 or

● ● ● ● push factor after insecurity for people from ● ● ●●● more attend school. On the contrary, only 36% ● ● Conclusion

● ● Mayendit and Leer to leave their previous of assessed settlements reported the same for ● PANYIJIAR Displacement trends, population needs and ● location, as cited by 58% of new arrivals ● ●● girls of the same age. According to an FGD ● ●● ● 15 access to services in Unity State appeared to ● ● in Nyal. These findings indicate, that shelter undertaken with parents of school aged girls, ● needs of local communities remain a priority have improved over the past few months. This one reason for low attendance rates for girls concern, especially in central Unity State. was likely thanks to a relative improvement in rural areas is the belief that school could Map 7: Proportion of settlements reporting in the security situation in parts of the state have a bad influence on young girls. Further, a Similar to local communities shelter after March, and an upscale in humanitarian main reason mentioned for girl’s drop-out has tukuls as the primary shelter type for the local conditions, developments in IDPs shelter community, May 2017 assistance to locations outside formal been early marriage and early pregnancy. To Figure 8: Main shelter type local community displacement sites since then. Nevertheless, target these issues, efforts made to empower settlements in February up to 62% in May. Tukuls outnumbered the rakooba as most cited (left) and IDP community (right), May 2017 overall access to services in Unity State was girls and women could be directed towards still low. sensitization campaigns and incentives to primary shelter type, of which the proportion of parents. assessed settlements decreased from 54% Food security continued to be the main in February to 38% in May. The best shelter humanitarian challenge in May, despite Shelter conditions for local community appeared to be relative improvements since the upscale in the comparatively more stable areas of Unity 62+38+A 18+17+65+A in food assistance in February. Especially Shelter conditions reportedly continued to improve for local communities compared to State, such as Mayom, Panyijiar, Rubkona, 62% Tukul 18% Tukul in northern Unity State (Mayom, Guit and previous months. The reported proportion Guit and parts of Koch, as illustrated by Map 7. 38% Rakooba 65% Rakooba Rubkona), access seemed to have rapidly of permanent tukuls as primary shelter type Lowest proportion of assessed settlements 17% Improvised deteriorated throughout the previous months, increased continuously from 43% of assessed as the lean season continued and food stocks

15 REACH, Nyal Port Monitoring, May 2017. 7 were depleted. In order to address and counter extension of activities by education actors in the fast deterioration in food security in the Unity. Work to stem and reverse the impact of north of Unity State, assistance would need long-term food insecurity on conflict-affected to be upscaled. In addition, this would help populations will require a sustained and large- to prevent a relapse to previous conditions in scale effort to address the basic needs found central and south of Unity State. in Unity State. The planting season started in May and lack of agricultural inputs remained a key concern for small-scale farmers. In order to support sustainable livelihoods, seed and tools distributions in stable highland areas could prevent low cultivation levels of last year, which have been among the main reasons for extreme food insecurity in 2017. Additionally, the provision of fishing kits for areas located in near rivers or in the swamp could contribute to ensuring these distributions support livelihoods activities during the lean season. Continuously, low proportions of assessed settlements reported access to safe drinking water. The reconstruction and construction of About REACH Initiative boreholes should be prioritised, especially in REACH facilitates the development Guit and Rubkona, where access has been of information tools and products that reported lowest. enhance the capacity of aid actors to make Shelter needs especially in central Unity State evidence-based decisions in emergency, continued to be pronounced, and were among recovery and development contexts. All the main push factors forcing people from Leer REACH activities are conducted through and Mayendit to leave their previous location, inter-agency aid coordination mechanisms. as recorded by REACH port monitoring in For more information, you can write Nyal. With the advent of the rainy season, the to our in-country office: southsudan@ provision of sufficient shelter material could reach-initiative.org or to our global office: help assure the protection of populations [email protected]. against harsh weather conditions. Visit www.reach-initiative.org and Although still very low, access to education follow us @REACH_info. seems to have slightly improved, likely due to

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