South Sudan
South Sudan is a landlocked country in East Africa. Its diverse landscape includes vast plains and plateaus, dry and tropical savannahs, inland floodplains, and forested mountains.
The country remains trapped in extreme poverty, with the highest poverty rate in the world, and 2/3 of the population face acute food insecurity.
South Sudan grapples with widespread corruption, political instability, violent power struggles involving ethnic-based militias and heavy reliance on oil exports. It also has one of the largest populations of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugee returnees relative to its population size.
Since late 2025, renewed conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands. At the same time, 1.3 million people have fled Sudan, many arriving in already fragile areas.
The humanitarian response is severely underfunded, while attacks on aid convoys and access restrictions further limit assistance, with serious consequences for affected populations.
Two-thirds of the population face acute food insecurity, with two million women and children being acutely malnourished.
High youth dependency ratios and a very young population amplify pressure on education and livelihoods. Households struggle to meet basic needs, with extremely limited access to education, healthcare and clean water.
While access to education remains extremely limited, the quality of education is also a major concern, with weak learning outcomes driven by shortages of qualified teachers, poor infrastructure, and frequent disruptions linked to conflict and food insecurity. Only one in ten girls completes primary education, and almost half of all girls are married before their 18th birthday.
Our approach and focus areas
We work towards long-term resilience and sustainable development while integrating peacebuilding, protection, psycho-social support and addressing immediate food security needs.
- Our education programmes target children and adolescents in poor and marginalised communities, and they will provide access to inclusive quality education through early childhood education, improvement of formal schools, life skills and empowerment training.
- Our livelihood programmes target poor and vulnerable families with the aim of improving their livelihoods through vocational and climate-smart agricultural training, savings groups, collective marketing and value-chain addition.
- The security situation in South Sudan is volatile, and a high focus will thus be placed on security and risk prevention.
For the 2024–2028 strategic period, we are partnering with local organizations and other private sector partners to strengthen the resilience of poor and marginalized communities in Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, and Kapoeta county.
Our Key Programmes
We have two main Programme interventions:
- Inclusive Quality Education and Lifelong Learning
- Income Generation and Job Creation
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
Our ECCE program supports children aged 3–12 years, focusing on school readiness for preschoolers and strengthening learning outcomes across the full primary cycle.
- Competence Development for ECD Educators and Lower Primary Teachers and caregivers
- Functional and learning assessment for learners with disabilities.
- Promoting play-based learning, parents’ involvement, school feeding and practices using school gardens.
- Improving school infrastructure and school governance bodies.
Bonga – Adolescent empowerment
Our Bonga Programme empowers out-of-school adolescent girls with literacy, life skills, and entrepreneurship training, enabling them to continue their education or start businesses
- Four-months Life skills training
- Keeping kids in school with Bonga-in-School Clubs
- Re-enrollment of 13-15-year-olds in school.
- Child-care support to promote young mothers’ participation
- Age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health education
- Menstrual Hygiene practices: reusable pads making and liquid soap
Community Vocational Education and Training (CVET)
The Community Vocational Education and Training (CVET) programme equips youth with practical skills, entrepreneurship knowledge, and hands-on training to secure employment or start their own businesses.
The programme promotes climate-smart practices, strengthens food security, and empowers young people to contribute positively to their communities.
Community Managed Savings Groups (CMSG)
Community Managed Savings Groups (CMSG) programme strengthens financial inclusion for vulnerable households, empowering women and youth to save, access credit, and invest in income-generating activities.
The programme also promotes climate resilience through tree planting and energy-saving stoves, enabling communities to build sustainable livelihoods.
Savings and Producer Groups (SPG)
The Savings and Producer Groups (SPG) Programme strengthen financial inclusion and food security by empowering communities to farm collectively, adopt climate-smart practices, and lead local food security initiatives.
Members gain skills, build resilience, and create sustainable livelihoods. This improves yields, builds resilience to climate change, and ensures food security.