Since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan has continued to experience a fluid and unstable situation due to armed conflict.
As of 2020, 7.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance (more than 60% of the total population of 11.7 million).
Political struggles, armed conflicts, and extensive flood damage have led to an unstable political, economic, and social situation.
Approximately 2 million refugees have fled abroad due to fighting, and approximately 1.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are forced to live as evacuees within the country.
Of these, approximately 240,000 IDPs reside in the capital, Juba.
About 87% of the approximately 1.4 million IDPs live outside UN protection facilities, resulting in limited assistance and extremely poor living conditions.
Furthermore, many organizations have ceased support for IDP camps due to deteriorating security and the impact of COVID-19 between 2018 and 2020.
Of the approximately 11,000 evacuees living in camps, approximately 3,500 people (about 700 households) without tents or other shelters are reportedly sleeping in open spaces within the camp, exposed to the elements.
Certified NPO Reach Alternatives (REALs) has been providing support in South Sudan since 2009.
(Image provided by REALs)
There is no lighting in the toilets or bushes, making night-time use dangerous.
Numerous cases of women and girls being sexually assaulted when going to relieve themselves at night have been reported.
Furthermore, shared toilets also lack lighting, presenting similar dangers as outdoor defecation.
Even when signs of alertness or trouble are witnessed at night (e.g., a woman's scream),
it is reportedly sometimes impossible to respond immediately due to the lack of light.
Lighting is also important for preventing incidents and accidents. (REALs local staff)
“In refugee and IDP camps, there is a high risk of physical and sexual violence at night, and
community lighting is strongly associated with residents' perception of safety.
Lighting is also crucial for patrols to deter perpetrators, and
it is extremely important for adolescents to read and study, and for adults to engage in productive activities to earn income. (UNHCR, 2019)”
Realizing that Carry the Sun lights could be very useful for daily lighting in IDP camps in South Sudan, we began preparations in June 2021 to donate 1,000 Carry the Sun units, with the cooperation of REALs, a specified non-profit organization that has been supporting refugee camps in South Sudan for many years.
However, an attack on a land transport truck occurred, halting land transport for a while.
The views of the South Sudanese customs and other government offices were inconsistent, making it difficult to get a guarantee of import. Then, the official in charge of the office contracted COVID-19, completely halting administrative processing...
For eight months, we continued to try various approaches, communicating almost daily with the REALs staff who support the refugee camps.
Just when suggestions began to emerge that there might be no choice but to bring them to the site ourselves, things finally started to move at the end of February 2022.
We decided to try sending them to the REALs Kenya office first, clearing customs for import, and then re-exporting them from Kenya to South Sudan.
The items arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on March 4th, were exported from Nairobi, Kenya to Juba, South Sudan on March 25th, and arrived at the IDP camp in Juba on March 30th! After a long journey of about 10 months since the decision to donate, the items finally reached the IDP camp. However, selecting the local community and the households to receive the items takes time. It is necessary to carefully and concretely determine the criteria to prevent conflicts within the community that might arise from some households receiving items and others not. In September, we finally received some photos and comments from the field after the distribution.
Local voices during distribution
● We often used our phone lights before, which meant our phones needed to be fully charged,
We will continue to report any messages we receive from those who have received the lights!
