HUMANITARIAN 2019 RESPONSE PLAN MONITORING REPORT JANUARY-MARCH 2019 AFGHANISTAN SOUTH SUDAN TABLE OF CONTENTS CHANGES IN CONTEXT Key developments 02 Rising food insecurity 02 Fluid population movements 02 Improving humanitarian access 03 Evolving health risks 03 Timeline 04 01 REVIEW OF NEEDS People in need 05 Intersectoral severity of needs ������������������������������������������������������������������ 06 REVIEW OF RESPONSE People targeted and reached by state 07 Highlight of achievements 08 ACHIEVEMENTS AGAINST THE PLAN People reached 09 Funding received 09 Progress towards strategic objectives 10 ChanGES IN ConteXT CHANGES IN CONTEXT Key developments In January, 6.2 million people – 54 per cent of the population – were estimated to face ‘Crisis’ food insecurity (IPC Phase 3) or As anticipated, South Sudan remained in the grip of a serious worse, even in the presence of humanitarian food assistance. humanitarian crisis through the first quarter of 2019. The Out of these, 1.4 million people faced ‘Emergency’ (IPC Phase effects of years of conflict, displacement and lack of basic 4) food insecurity and 30,000 faced ‘Catastrophe’ (IPC Phase services continued to be felt throughout the country. Some 7.2 5). These 30,000 most vulnerable people were found in four million people needed assistance, up from 7.1 million estimated counties: Canal/Pigi and Pibor in Jonglei, Panyikang in Upper in the 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview. Nile, and Cueibet in Lakes. The number of severely food The prolonged disruptions to food production meant that insecure people in January was nearly a million people more than hunger continued to rise across South Sudan. Health risks the 5.3 million living in the same conditions in January 2018. grew, with a high risk of Ebola Virus Disease crossing over The estimated number of severely food insecure people rose from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo. There to 6.5 million in the February-April IPC projection period; a was also a clear rise in measles outbreaks compared to 2018. historical high for that time of the year. This represented 57 Sexual and gender-based violence remained a persistent per cent of the population, and included 1.6 million people in feature of the crisis, exacerbated by incidents of conflict, but ‘Emergency’ and 45,000 in ‘Catastrophe’. reflective of deeply entrenched discriminatory cultural norms and gender inequality. Fluid population movements Fluid population movements defined the first months of the Although the overall numbers of internally displaced people year. The ceasefire in most parts of the country led some (IDPs) and refugees remained roughly constant at about 1.9 displaced people to cautiously explore options to return million people displaced inside South Sudan, and 2.3 million 02 home, hoping that the possibility of living without fear would people outside the country, fluid population movements were a eventually come. significant feature of the first quarter. However, clashes involving the South Sudan People’s Defence Some 11,400 spontaneous refugee returns to South Sudan Forces, pro-Machar SPLA in Opposition and National were recorded between January and March, while another Salvation Front in Central Equatoria forced people to flee in 25,000 people fled the country in the same period to seek some areas internally and across the country’s borders. Inter- refuge in the neighbouring countries. Similarly, while some communal violence and cattle raids showed a marked increase IDPs were able to return to their areas of habitual residence, between January and March and displaced thousands. hostilities and inter-communal clashes in Upper Nile, Unity The reduction in armed conflict improved the operating and the Equatorias, and cattle raids in Western Bahr el Ghazal environment for humanitarians, and allowed them to move and Warrap, uprooted thousands more. Some were newly more securely across the country, reaching 2.6 million people displaced, while others fled again after previous displacement. in need by the end of the quarter. The gains in humanitarian Housing, land and property issues were a significant access on roads and rivers also meant that aid stocks could be impediment for many displaced people trying to return or replenished in the dry season, reducing the need for expensive relocate. Awareness of these issues and recourse to justice, airdrops once the rainy season was expected to begin in May. especially for women- and child-headed households, was poor. Rising food insecurity Despite ongoing humanitarian assessments, the full scale of population movements remained difficult to track and Hunger deepened through the first quarter. Analysis released quantify. Only about 300,000 out of the 1.9 million IDPs lived in February 2019 by the Integrated Food Security Phase in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites, camps and camp- Classification (IPC) found that national and localized conflicts, like settlements, and could therefore be reliably tracked and related displacement, economic crisis and humanitarian access quantified by biometric registrations and head counts. Many challenges continued to drive food insecurity. families were displaced within their own counties, particularly if they had fled because of cattle raiding, like in Tonj, Jur River, The prolonged disruptions to national cereal production, Pibor and Akobo. Some areas, such as Yei in Central Equatoria, depletion of livestock and constraints to people’s livelihoods saw a combination of returns and new displacements, reflecting meant that fewer families knew where their next meal would the complexity of population movements. come from. Communities showed increasing vulnerability as food stocks dwindled in local markets, while prices rose in Fighting between the Government and opposition armed advance of the lean season which historically runs from May to groups and forces led to increased civilian displacements and August. Conflict also impacted negatively on households’ access humanitarian needs in the Yei area. In the first quarter of 2019, to other food sources, such as wild foods and fish. some 8,700 people were displaced to Yei town itself. Northern ChanGES IN ConteXT Bahr el Ghazal, Unity, Upper Nile and Western Bahr el Ghazal also The most severe access incidents reported between January and saw increased numbers of displaced people in the first quarter. March included ambushes and related robberies of humanitarian vehicles, operational interference affecting the delivery of critical Drivers of return varied by region. In the Greater Equatorias, health services, relocation of humanitarian personnel due to partial households were returning to assess conditions in their active hostilities and military operations, access denials out of Yei areas of origin while retaining close links to refugee settlements and Wau, and looting and taxation of supplies. in neighbouring Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Greater Upper Nile, return movements were Humanitarian organizations encountered significant obstacles primarily driven by difficult living conditions in displacement related to bureaucratic procedures. Most notably, confusion sites in Sudan, while movements via Renk were related to more over the implementation of a Republican Order on customs tax direct pull factors such as family reunification. Poor access to exemptions led to delayed importation of relief materials, such health, education and other essential services, and high levels as agricultural seeds and medical equipment. of food insecurity, prevented more IDPs and refugees from A proliferation of circulars issued by State and non-State returning to areas where security conditions would otherwise authorities at the sub-national level around NGO recruitment, allow them to do so. work permit and registration procedures caused operational delays In the first quarter, counties with relatively higher numbers and, in some cases, ultimatums being given to NGOs in several of reported returnees included Juba and Kajo-Keji in Central states, threatening the continuity of their operations. Following Equatoria; Ikotos and Magwi in Eastern Equatoria; Akobo, Bor the intervention of national authorities, some of these issues were South and Duk in Jonglei; Rumbek North in Lakes; Aweil West resolved through a mixture of circulars and Government policies, and North in Northern Bahr el Ghazal; Guit, Koch, Mayom such as the NGO Recruitment Guidelines document, which was and Rubkona in Unity; Baliet, Fashoda and Renk in Upper published by the Ministry of Labour in March 2019. Nile; Twic, Tonj East and Tonj South in Warrap; Jur River, Raja and Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal; and Ezo, Tambura Increasing health risks and Yambio in Western Equatoria. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocated US$ 11 million to support ongoing The first quarter of 2019 saw a significant rise in measles population movements in 10 priority counties in Jonglei, outbreaks, with eleven counties and three PoC sites – Juba, Unity, Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal. Bentiu and Malakal – confirmed reported cases. This was almost six times the number of cases for all of 2018. Biometric registrations and headcounts conducted in the PoC 03 Cumulatively, a total of 908 suspect cases, including 7 deaths, sites in early 2019 indicated a reduction in the number of IDPs were reported. in the sites. The IDP count in the sites stood at about 182,000 at the end of the first quarter, down from nearly 190,000 in An outbreak of Ebola Virus