The World Bank in South Sudan

The Republic of South Sudan became the world’s youngest nation and Africa’s 54^th country on July 9, 2011. However, outbreaks of civil war in 2013 and 2016 have undermined the post-independence development gains it made, as well as making its humanitarian situation worse. More than a decade after independence, South Sudan remains impacted by fragility, economic stagnation, and instability. Poverty is ubiquitous, exacerbated by conflict, displacement, and external shocks.

The signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018 and the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity in February 2020 have contributed to recovery and peacebuilding. A series of encouraging reforms have been undertaken to support longer term stability and development outcomes, and a two-year extension of the R-ARCSS to February 2025 will further allow the government to meet key milestones in the peace agreement. However, a modest economic recovery, recorded following the resumption of oil production, has been upended by historic floods and the COVID-19 pandemic. South Sudan’s economic outlook is now clouded by production bottlenecks in the oil sector, with production dwindling in the face of limited new investment, highlighting the need to diversify the economy. Furthermore, since South Sudan depends on neighboring Sudan as the only route to export oil to international markets, the conflict in Sudan poses acute downside risks to South Sudan’s macroeconomic stability amid limited fiscal resources and pressing humanitarian needs.

South Sudan’s vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters compounds the country’s humanitarian crisis, jeopardizing recovery and undermining development efforts. Since its independence in 2011, the country has suffered from severe droughts (2011, 2015) and floods (2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022), resulting in high numbers of fatalities, displacements and loss of livestock which have severely impacted people’s livelihoods.

South Sudan remains in a serious humanitarian crisis. Some 9.4 million people, 76% of the population, are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023, an increase by half a million people compared to 2022. Women and children continue to be the most affected. The humanitarian crisis has been further exacerbated by the recent conflict in neighboring Sudan, which has led to an inflow of refugees and returnees into South Sudan. As of September 2023, 262,298 individuals have arrived in South Sudan, 91% of whom are South Sudanese returnees.

Going forward, upholding and fast-tracking the implementation of the peace agreement, as well as strengthening service delivery institutions, governance, and economic and public financial management systems, will prove critical as the country seeks to build resilience against future shocks and lay down the building blocks for a diversified, inclusive, and sustainable growth path.

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2023

The World Bank Group (WBG) has been engaged in South Sudan since the creation of the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan in 2005. The WBG’s strategy is guided by its Country Engagement Note (CEN) FY21-23. This has three focus areas: (a) laying the groundwork for institution building, (b) continuing support for basic public service delivery, and (c) promoting resilience and livelihood opportunities. The CEN also seeks to promote social inclusion, particularly of youth and women, as a cross-cutting principle. Its objective is to shift back to the government-led implementation of Bank-financed operations and to an expansion of the World Bank Country Program in the country. This programmatic expansion has resulted in a growing staffing footprint in the World Bank Country Office in Juba. As of September 2023, the WBG portfolio in South Sudan stands at $1.2 billion, covering nine national and three regional operations across the sectors of governance, health, social protection, agriculture, women’s empowerment, energy, water, education, digital development, and community resilience.

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2023

Below is a selection of recent World Bank accomplishments in South Sudan:

Accelerating the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaigns and Providing Essential Health Services. The World Bank has been the main contributor to COVID-19 vaccination in South Sudan and supported the Government of South Sudan to accelerate the vaccination efforts in the country. There has been significant progress on full vaccination rates, from less than 1% in 2021 to nearly 69.34% (of whom 50% are women) of the target population in 2023 (one of the highest coverage rates in the region). More than 1,878,674 people, of whom 53% (1,005,035) are women, have received essential health, nutrition, and population services.

Providing Income Opportunities. The World Bank has provided 65,045 poor and vulnerable households (nearly 423,051 individuals) with access to temporary income opportunities through direct income support as well as a labor-intensive public work program aimed at building and rehabilitating community assets across 10 counties in the country. Respectively 77% and 80% of the households included in the labor-intensive public work program and the direct income support scheme were female-headed. The labor-intensive public work program contributed to addressing community priorities such as road maintenance/rehabilitation, agriculture, general cleaning, and drainage works. Over 43,338 beneficiaries also received cash, as well as training in financial literacy, water, hygiene and sanitation, and early childhood development.

Enhancing Community Resilience and Improving Access to Basic Services. The World Bank has helped improve access to basic services for over 534,000 people (of which 50% are women) in 292 villages (bomas) across 20 counties through the construction and rehabilitation of 332 identified community facilities. This generated over 195,000 person-days of wage labor, thus providing $1.6 million to the communities. Close to 3,000 community members have been trained on topics such as participatory planning, village resource mapping, and community-based disaster risk management, among others. More than 81,000 people have benefitted from the rehabilitation of community dikes and received training sessions on disaster risk management designed to reduce vulnerability to flooding.

Improving Agricultural Production. The World Bank has reached close to 15,500 farmers (out of whom 73.9% are women) with various assets and services designed to support stronger agricultural production.

Supporting the Government’s Public Financial Management Reform Efforts. The World Bank has promoted capacity-building activities regarding public finance management in order to enhance the credibility of the national budget. It has also supported the operationalization of the Public Procurement Authority.

Last Updated: Sep 25, 2023

The World Bank maintains strong partnerships and engages regularly with development and humanitarian partners, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGO), and civil society organizations (CSOs) in South Sudan.

Last Updated: Sep 28, 2023