In South Sudan, children pay the heaviest price for decades of conflict.

In South Sudan, children pay the heaviest price for decades of conflict.

It’s been 18 months since South Sudan’s warring parties signed a peace deal to end a brutal five-year conflict. But more than half the population still relies on food rations, disease outbreaks are frequent and more than 2 million children don’t attend school.

The humanitarian community wants to shift from an emergency response and begin investing in the country’s future. So what’s stopping them?

Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor investigate.

South Sudan location map

When bullets began peppering Juba, the city’s terrorised residents feared their country was returning to civil war. They sought shelter in UN compounds, cowering from the machine-gun and RPG fire, loud explosions and noise of attack helicopters as the 2016 Battle of Juba raged around them.

For Fiona Lithgow, the fighting was the lowest point of her six years working in South Sudan. About 3000 people, mostly women and children, poured into the World Food Programme (WFP) base where she works from neighbouring Gudele, in the city’s northwest.

They fled for their lives - including a new mother who’d given birth to a son just a few hours earlier.

“It was the worst moment… most depressing moment in the job I’ve had here. There were gunships overhead… and a lot of people from our local neighbourhood came into the compound for safety. Of course, we let them in. 

“We weren’t officially really set up for it, but all of us, we made the best of it.”

Fiona Lithgow in the World Food Programme's Juba compound.

Fiona Lithgow in the World Food Programme's Juba compound.

The humanitarian staff - who do not carry arms - could take no chances.


Because guns are readily available here in South Sudan, our security officers were patting people down to make sure guns weren't brought on to the compound.


Fiona Lithgow

“They asked me if they wouldn't mind patting down the women and… we just made it fun. 

“But when you see old ladies who can't can't speak a word of English - [but are] hilarious, [or] young, really intelligent people and just talking to them and you think: you just don't deserve this.”

The civilians stayed at the compound for four or five days.

“We just made do. We had some commodities, tarpaulins, shelter items, things like that here we could feed them, but it was difficult.”

A teenager carries an AK-47.

A teenager carries an AK-47.

More than three years later, on a sunny December morning, the WFP compound showed none of the scars of that week of terror. International staff chattered over fresh fruit juices and a buffet lunch on the verandah of its cafe, overlooking a tennis court.

Lithgow’s offices are air-conditioned and bright, outside decorated with neat rows of bedding plants. Huge maps and charts line the walls.

It is a quiet haven from which she runs a mercy mission saving the lives of thousands of people.

The ravages of war, economic collapse, displacement and poor infrastructure have weakened South Sudan’s ability to cope with protracted crises and sudden shocks. In the first three months of the year, after the seasonal rains, every other person is hungry. 

Eighty per cent of the population lives below the poverty line and in 2019 more than half didn’t have enough food, including 600,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. 

Prolonged flooding created a fresh humanitarian crisis - and a new threat hovers just over the border, with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the grip of its second largest and deadliest outbreak of the ebola virus.

The people of South Sudan depend on aid. And the international humanitarian agencies rely on the United Nations to help them deliver it. It costs US$1.5 billion a year.

Women queue up to collect vegetable oil rations from an aid agency.

Women queue up to collect vegetable oil rations from an aid agency.

South Sudan timeline

  • Sudan gained independence from British-Egyptian rule.

    1956

  • Civil war broke out between southern separatists and the government in the Arabic north.

    1962

  • The Addis Ababa Agreement is signed, a peace deal giving the south some autonomy

    1972

  • Oil is discovered in the southern Unity State.

    1978

  • Autonomy is abolished by the Khartoum government and fighting breaks out, lead by the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

    1983

  • A new deal ended the civil war, giving autonomy to the south, a power-sharing government and an independence referendum within six years.

    2005

  • South Sudanese leader John Garang was killed in an air crash, and is succeeded by Salva Kiir.

    2005

  • The people of South Sudan vote for independence and the world’s newest nation is born. The UN establishes a peace-keeping mission.

    2011

  • President Kiir sacks his entire cabinet and then accuses ex-vice president Riek Machar of plotting to overthrow him. Civil war erupts.

    2013

  • 2000 people killed in the Massacre of Bentiu, an oil town in the north. The UN says 1 million people are displaced and 5 million need emergency aid, describing the food crisis as the worst in the world.

    2014

  • Kiir, under threat of UN sanctions, signs a peace deal.

    2015

  • Machar returned to Juba as vice president, but after violence broke out in Juba, he fled the country.

    2016

  • Another peace deal - the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan is signed.

    2018

  • Kiir and Machar miss an internationally imposed deadline to form a coalition government. They are given a 100-day extension, but the US withdrew its ambassador to signal its frustration.

    2019

  • The key players have until mid-February to resolve thorny issues, including the integration of troops, security arrangements in Juba and internal state boundaries.

    2020

The WFP delivers up to 300,000 tonnes of food around the country each year by road, air and river barge. Lithgow manages a logistics cluster, which also delivers non-food necessities like vaccines, bore pumps, plastic buckets, tarpaulins and blankets.

But it is one of the world’s most difficult jobs. For four years running, South Sudan was ranked as the most dangerous place in the world to deliver aid.

More than 100 humanitarian workers have been killed since the country descended into civil war in 2013.

But 55-year-old Lithgow is unflinching from the danger. Born in Tirau, Waikato, she’s worked for WFP for a decade, in Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the DRC . 

“There's a large humanitarian crisis here in South Sudan… the reason I'm here and my teams are here, is we are focused on… the women and the children. They suffer incredibly out here,” she said.

More than 7 million South Sudanese depend on food aid, of which sorghum is a staple.

More than 7 million South Sudanese depend on food aid, of which sorghum is a staple.

It was only mid-morning and she had already juggled two problems.

Flooding left most of the country’s limited road network impassable for the WFP’s convoys.


With the roads out, we’re heavily reliant on air. We've got a very specialised aircraft here that can land [on] short airstrips, but deliver a lot of cargo compared to a smaller helicopter.


Fiona Lithgow

But it’s got engine trouble.

“It really dramatically affects our response programme,” she explained.

Within a matter of hours Lithgow had drafted a backup plan with aviation specialists.

Another crucial delivery, 1200 tonnes of aid to Malakal, the country’s second largest city, was in jeopardy. It was due to make the eight-day journey up the Nile by river barge, and had already been delayed twice. But inter-clan fighting just 100km north of Juba made the trip too treacherous. 

“We're trying to work out what we can do,” she said. “You are constantly thinking on your feet. That's a part of the job I love.”

Local people and humanitarian agencies use the Nile river system to transport food and other essential goods.

Local people and humanitarian agencies use the Nile river system to transport food and other essential goods.

Across the city, at a protection of civilian (POC) camp attached to the UN House base, Lam Deng Luak was preparing lessons in his office. The 43-year-old is the principal of Future High School. Up to 300 children are educated in seven classrooms. They are taught the curriculum of South Sudan and the neighbouring countries Kenya and Uganda.

Lam Deng Luak is principal of Future High School, Juba.

Lam Deng Luak is principal of Future High School, Juba.

He isn’t paid for his work, and the school survives on small, monthly donations from parents to buy chalk and textbooks. Like everyone in the camp, he feeds himself with rations from WFP.

“If you didn't pay we cannot chase you away from the class,” he said.

“Some [of the children] are living without parents, some they don't know where their parents are.”

South Sudan has one of the highest proportions of out-of-school children in the world.


Nobody's paying us, but the job is satisfying us because we are helping others to be ready for future careers.


Lam Deng Luak

“This is what is motivating us. We operate independently, without any assistance from NGOs [non-governmental organisations],” he said proudly.

More than 2 million children - about 70 per cent - are out of school in South Sudan.

More than 2 million children - about 70 per cent - are out of school in South Sudan.

But when it comes to exam time, the UN and humanitarian agencies step in to help.

Buses are chartered by the UN’s Children’s Emergency Fund to transport the students to exam halls across the city. They are accompanied by force protection soldiers and police.

The aid agencies provide refreshments. Some of Luak’s pupils have gone on to university, a source of deep pride for him. “There is hope here,” he said.

Half a century of war has obliterated almost all of South Sudan’s basic services: healthcare, clean water, sanitation and education.

A man uses the basic washing facilities at a Juba PoC camp.

A man uses the basic washing facilities at a Juba PoC camp.

In the absence of a functioning government, NGOs, facilitated by the protection of the UN, provide humanitarian relief during the conflict and its aftermath.

There are almost 200 organisations providing emergency operations in the country.

There is hope peace will bring prosperity. The international community would prefer to invest in South Sudan’s future: raising the population out of chronic poverty by restoring livelihoods, ensuring safe water, promoting social cohesion, training teachers, nurses, midwives and doctors, and introducing immunisation, medical supplies, and schools.

PoCs are established where civilians seek refuge at existing United Nations bases when fighting starts.

PoCs are established where civilians seek refuge at existing United Nations bases when fighting starts.

But sporadic ethnic conflict regularly sees local people caught in the crossfire and 200,000 remain in POC camps. Another two million live in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Millions need emergency food assistance and in 2019 about 1.7 million people were at risk of acute malnourishment.

The weakened health system cannot cope with disease outbreaks - there was a measles outbreak in the early months of 2019, rates of malaria are on the rise and recent flooding increased the risk of cholera.

But alleviating suffering in South Sudan presents huge challenges. In the rainy season, 70 per cent of roads are waterlogged. Access to certain areas is controlled by up to 70 distinct armed groups who steal and sell food and medical supplies, or cut off aid to punish rival or ‘disloyal’ communities. Even the myriad official processes are inconsistent and confusing at local and national levels.

A report from the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict says the country is a persistent perpetrator of grave violations against children.

A report from the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict says the country is a persistent perpetrator of grave violations against children.

“The bureaucracy can be challenging in this country,” Lithgow said. “[It’s] one of those soft challenges, but can be incredibly frustrating.

“In our normal lives back in New Zealand, Customs is a very clear process, quick and fast. Here, not so much.

“It can be incredibly costly, which adds money onto humanitarian items. So we are getting less for every dollar because you've got to pay demurrage fees or it takes weeks, if not months, to clear critical health items.”

World Vision works alongside WFP to provide emergency food and has reached close to 300,000 people.

The charity is also fixed on reducing malnutrition through health clinics, teaching families how to grow crops that can be harvested more than once a year and provides food all year round. About 1000 households are supplied with seed, vegetable and fishing kits.

Sixty per cent of South Sudan's people are facing severe hunger.

Sixty per cent of South Sudan's people are facing severe hunger.

In Juba, they run a ‘cash for training’ initiative - a parent receives a small amount of money to feed their family, in return for attending weekly vocational training.

And in Yambio, the charity is based in a refugee camp which shelters people from DRC, Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Catherine Belfield-Haines is a programme manager, based in Auckland, and has made four trips to South Sudan. Much of World Vision’s work there is funded through Children in Crisis, a monthly donation scheme.

As of November 2019, 190,455 people were sheltering in protection of  civilian sites, including 29,702 in this camp in Juba.

As of November 2019, 190,455 people were sheltering in protection of  civilian sites, including 29,702 in this camp in Juba.

“I talk about the challenges that people there face, the fear and the high levels of need and the disruption,” she said.

“Because of the conflict, there is a generation of people that have just not had access to education. We take for granted access to the doctor - most of the people I have met in my travels have not had that opportunity.


So how do you grow up when your life has been quite chaotic?


Catherine Belfield-Haines

In South Sudan, 91 out of 1000 children will die before their 5th birthday.

In South Sudan, 91 out of 1000 children will die before their 5th birthday.

For Owen Calvert, honey is a powerful symbol of what could be in South Sudan.

He has worked for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Juba for two years. Traditional beekeeping was destructive.


Beekeeping has been done here for quite a long time… but it's not efficient. To harvest the honey they basically had to kill all the bees, which is not sustainable.


Owen Calvert

As part of a ‘livelihood diversification’ programme, the FAO introduced modern hives and trained up apiarists.

“We're following on with better handling and processing of the honey and we're supporting the value chain through to the through to the selling point as well.”

People face famine despite South Sudan's fertile soils.

People face famine despite South Sudan's fertile soils.

Calvert, a project manager from Central Otago, said the FAO is focused on increasing agricultural productivity and the management of South Sudan’s abundant natural resources.

“About three years ago, probably 80 per cent of the portfolio with FAO was on the emergency side, which was more about the seeds and tools, distribution activities. Now the portfolio is probably more like 50/50, where the other 50 per cent is thinking longer term.”

An aerial view of a cattle camp - where South Sudan's nomads migrate to find pasture during the dry season.

An aerial view of a cattle camp - where South Sudan's nomads migrate to find pasture during the dry season.

In South Sudan, wealth is counted in cattle, not cash. The culture of the largest tribes - Dinka, Nuer and Mundari - glorifies cows. In a place where banks collapse, a herd is a reliable way to secure assets.

Songs are written about the long-horned herds, first-born sons are named after a favourite bull and men pay for their brides in livestock. One cow can fetch US$200 - and the taller the girl, the more cattle she fetches.

For generations, tribes have fought over cattle, water and grazing rights.

Violent cattle raids have increased since the civil war ended in 2018.

Violent cattle raids have increased since the civil war ended in 2018.

Now the herders are armed with military weapons and although the political elite signed a peace agreement in 2018, the number of cattle raids and tit-for-tat massacres have only increased. In January, at least 40 were killed at cattle camps - where nomadic tribes gather between December and May to find pasture during the dry season.

Young children are also snatched during the raids and sold for cattle to couples who cannot conceive. 

But while they infer social status and prestige, the cattle are not productive. They are not killed for meat, or milked on a significant scale. 

So, the FAO is visiting cattle camps to train herders in basic veterinary and husbandry skills with a view to making their animals more economic.

“[FAO wants] to encourage a more diversified livelihood for the communities we work with, increase their agricultural productivity, and look at their natural resources and how they can better manage those… we work very much at the community level,” Calvert said.

Its experts are also improving agricultural practices and post-harvest handling.

“The traditional way of planting seeds is just to scatter them in a field, which is not efficient because they're not evenly distributed and so we're encouraging row planting. It's a pretty simple technique, but it can contribute quite significantly to the overall production.


We're also introducing new technologies to store grain. I spoke to a farmer this time last year and he lost about 50 per cent of his production before he could eat or sell it.


Owen Calvert

“That really hit me hard. So we're introducing hermetically-sealed bags that will prevent that grain from deteriorating due to moisture or insect attack.”

Despite months of heavy rainfall, people struggle for access to clean drinking water.

Despite months of heavy rainfall, people struggle for access to clean drinking water.

Water storage is another concern for FAO, which is establishing boreholes, and hafirs, large earthen basins to capture rainfall. The country is criss-crossed by rivers, including the White Nile, and endures a lengthy rain season, but suffers from regular water shortages. The Government says nearly 80 per cent of its people don’t have access to clean water - and climate change is driving up temperatures, exacerbating drought. 

Water is a precious resource in Juba's protection of civilian sites.

Water is a precious resource in Juba's protection of civilian sites.

“South Sudan is one of the many countries that are prone to shocks be it climatic, conflict or economic shocks and so the goal is to increase their resilience to cope with those shocks when they come along,” Calvert explained.

“This place has so much potential. There’s a huge amount of land, it's got good growing conditions, agriculturally, and fishing. So I see there's a lot of hope. There's obviously the political and security issues that need to be addressed. 

“And, certainly, if that was moving forward smoothly, then we could make a lot further inroads.”

Children peer through a fence at a military compound.

Children peer through a fence at a military compound.

Calvert previously worked in Somalia and witnessed the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, immortalised in the film Black Hawk Down, from his rooftop. Part of his role in South Sudan involves working with 500 former child soldiers.

Two years ago, the country had one of the largest number of child soldiers in the world. Although thousands were demobilised last year, they received little rehabilitation and are prone to anxiety and depression. And an alarming report by the UN Commission on Human Rights, published in August, warned that recruitment into militias is on the increase. Despite the peace deal, there is suspicion that both sides are seeking to bolster infantry numbers should the uneasy truce be unpicked.

“In collaboration with Unicef and WFP we're supporting these groups of children and their families to re-establish them in the mainstream community. Unicef are providing basic literacy skills, WFP have been providing some food assistance and we're providing livelihood support and offering opportunities for different enterprises such as vegetable production, beekeeping, blacksmithing and that sort of thing.

“I would hope that through this project, families would be able to invest in other productive assets, be it a bicycle or an ox plough that could then increase their productivity and their income [and then] afford to send those children not just to primary school, but maybe high school, to take them on to university level.”

Demobilising troops and training them for other jobs is being driven by humanitarian agencies.

Demobilising troops and training them for other jobs is being driven by humanitarian agencies.

South Sudan is the worst place in the world to be a child. But South Sudan’s aid agencies are staring down another looming crisis: donor fatigue. The world has grown weary of the grinding war and protracted crises, and the Government makes it difficult for journalists to visit, which means its tragedy goes unreported: forgotten and neglected.

“Human life is human life, I don't make the distinction between South Sudan or any other part of the world,” David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan said.


Human life is human life, I don't make the distinction between South Sudan or any other part of the world.


David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan

“People that I meet still love their kids, and they still have all the hopes and dreams that we all have as people. Sometimes you gotta pinch yourself and say ‘hang on a second, this is horrific, why isn't this getting more attention?’ And it's because it's in South Sudan.

“It's a lack of visibility. There's no journalists here that will see it. I think it's also a bit of, well, you know, South Sudan, what do you expect? It's one of those places.”

David Shearer: "People that I meet still love their kids, and they still have all the hopes and dreams that we all we all have."

Lithgow was taking advantage of the dry season to plan for more expected flooding later in the year. Her teams pre-position equipment, rations and essential items in at-risk areas. 

“We need to get as much cargo out in the field because the roads will start opening and we need to push cargo out. It's far cheaper than flying around helicopters, [in the rainy season] which are incredibly expensive.

“It's all about efficiencies. The humanitarian response programme out here is about US$1.5 billion a year now, and while it is being very generously funded by all of our donors, it's not fully funded. 

“And we have got donor fatigue coming in, because unfortunately, in the world at the moment, there are numerous crises going on.”

"We can't give up on South Sudan" - aid worker Fiona Lithgow.

"We can't give up on South Sudan" - aid worker Fiona Lithgow.

Lithgow makes an impassioned defence of the programme, which moves Taban Kenyi, a UN press officer from Juba, to emotion.

“We can't give up on South Sudan,” she said. “Don't give up on South Sudan, we will all get there.


If we leave, that’s very dark for South Sudan.


Fiona Lithgow

PART 3: The Kiwis in an African war zone trying to make a difference.


Words: Andrea Vance

Visuals: Iain McGregor

Design & layout: Aaron Wood

Editor: Warwick Rasmussen

Executive Editor: Bernadette Courtney