INTERSOS has been in South Sudan since 2006, before the country gained independence from Sudan in 2011. Many are the projects launched over the years in this area that operators in the field define as extremely varied and complex to understand.
"South Sudan - the youngest state in the world - on the one hand is a very fascinating country from a cultural and landscape point of view, but on the other hand it is still decidedly unstable from a political and social point of view", Stefano Antichi, INTERSOS Head of Mission, says, who has been living in the capital, Juba, for almost two years, but who is always flying to the projects carried out by the staff in various locations - some very remote and difficult to reach – all across the country.
The environmental aspect is added to the constant instability: climate change is visibly putting the territory in great difficulty, in recent years the floods have further damaged the economy and since last year famine has been declared in all the states of South Sudan. To date, the work of humanitarian organisations is still fundamental, as the 70% of the population lives thanks to the help of NGOs.
“We at INTERSOS support communities and at the same time with our projects we try to create sustainability for the future”, Stefano Antichi explains.
The main sectors in which INTERSOS operates in South Sudan are the psychosocial assistance of vulnerable women and children who live in displaced communities or have been affected by conflicts, and sanitation through which clean water is brought and latrines are built in schools and villages, fundamental activities to reduce widespread diseases such as cholera. In addition, from 2020 food distribution projects have also began to tackle the famine, which worsened in 2021.
