South Sudan is the world’s third most fragile state (Fragile States Index, 2022), after Yemen and Somalia. A 2018 peace agreement (Footnote 1) brought an end to 5 years of civil war (though significant sub-national conflict continues), established a transitional government (Footnote 2), and set out a path to the creation of national institutions and holding national elections. One of the deliverables of the peace agreement was the Revised National Development Strategy (PDF, 4.1 MB) which sets out the vision of the transitional government for long-term sustainable development with peace as its foundation. However, progress against all elements of the peace agreement – including the development strategy – is slow, inconsistent, and significantly behind schedule. Elections are now due in December 2024 but the process is significantly behind schedule.

South Sudan has some of the worst Human Development Index (HDI) indicators in the world, ranking 185 out of 189. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 9.4 million people, about 75% of the population, will require humanitarian assistance in 2023. Women and girls are disproportionately disadvantaged. South Sudan is ranked the sixth lowest performer globally in the 2021 to 2022 Women Peace and Security Index. Gender-based violence is widespread, over half of all girls are married before they are 18, and a third of girls fall pregnant before the age of 15. South Sudan is highly vulnerable to climate change. Temperatures in South Sudan are rising faster than the global average, rainfall is increasingly intense and unpredictable with the result that parts of the country are entering a fourth consecutive year of flooding and others are highly susceptible to drought.

Top Priorities

• We will deliver the commitments in the UK’s International Development Strategy through supporting the most vulnerable through humanitarian assistance; reducing conflict; supporting the establishment of democratic and accountable institutions; and providing essential services.
• We will provide lifesaving humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people in South Sudan and strengthen their resilience to shocks.
• We will deliver quality health and education services focussing particularly on women and girls and test approaches to preventing Gender Based Violence
• We will work to promote peace, strengthen public financial management and increase democratic accountability.
• We will work with partners to reduce the impacts of climate shocks for the most vulnerable, support communities to rebuild livelihoods and reduce dependency on food aid and explore how education and health programmes can build climate resilience in these sectors.
• We will take forward the commitments in the White Paper: International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change in a way that meets the needs of the people of South Sudan