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Urban internally displaced persons (IDPs): The South Sudan’s experience with a focus on Juba

Published on March 8, 2021
Joseph Geng AKECH | genida

This brief highlights the emerging problem of growing number of urban IDPs in Juba. It draws attention to their unique experiences and challenges which the COVID-19 has exacerbated owing to their already poor living conditions and lack of access to basic social services. The brief argues that urgent and bold actions need to be taken to ensure that urban IDPs are not left behind in South Sudan’s development agenda. In particular, it recommends that; (i) the measures adopted by the government in fighting COVID-19 needs to prioritise urban IDPs and urges coordination with aid agencies to ensure that risk communication strategies are tailored to their needs and circumstances; (ii) that the government ensure provision of basic food aid to cushion sudden loss in income due to disruptions in the economy caused by COVID-19 and to ensure that the most vulnerable amongst urban IDPs are protected. Finally, it emphasises the need for the government to support long term settlement in areas that are surveyed and safe for them.

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Researching Internal Displacement publishes engaging and insightful short pieces of writing, artistic and research outputs, policy briefings and think pieces on internal displacement.

We welcome contributions from academics, practitioners, researchers, officials, artists, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, postgraduate students and people affected by internal displacement.

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How to Contribute

Not Without Housing, Security, and Social Stability: What Quantitative Modeling of Return Movements across Three Crisis Contexts Tells Us about Resolving Internal Displacement

By Roger Guiu and Nadia Siddiqui | May 7, 2026
By examining the behavior and living conditions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) across humanitarian, development, and peace indicators, it is possible to know what matters most to displaced populations seeking to return or remain in a location. Quantitative modeling across Iraq, Syria, and Sudan reveal consistent commonalities in IDP decision-making in this regard. However, these critical elements are often not prioritized initially in international and national crisis responses – if they are dealt with at all. This 12th volume in our series on ‘Internal Displacement in a Changing World Order’ details these findings and their implications, arguing for genuinely centering displaced and conflict-affected populations’ own priorities, wellbeing, and rights as the basis for the resolution of displacement in a changing global order. What is needed is a more robust, simultaneous, and consolidated transversal approach, not a shrunk down status quo.
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This 11th volume in our series on ‘Internal Displacement in a Changing World Order’ argues that the global rise of conflict-induced internal displacement and the Doomsday Clock both reflect the same underlying conditions of global fragility and instability. The Doomsday Clock symbolically represents how close our species is to existential demise, due to myriad of reasons including nuclear escalation, geopolitical tensions, climate change, biological and technological hazards, and widespread conflict. By contrast, incidents of internal displacement provide an empirical account of how these threats are felt in human terms. In this respect, the significant increase in incidents of conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide manifests the broader risks captured by the Doomsday Clock. This is not a causal relationship. Rather, it suggests that the growth of internal displacement is not merely as a consequence of conflicts, but also an indicator of deeper structural failures in global governance and peacebuilding.
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By Marius Olivier | Apr 30, 2026
In this tenth volume in our series on ‘Internal Displacement in a Changing World Order’, the author argues that there is a need to move beyond the narrow confines of the traditional life-cycle orientation of the social protection concept, which refers to, among others, health care needs, unemployment and retirement. Social protection should also be able to respond to climate change-related social, economic and climate risks, such as the loss of assets and livelihood opportunities, food insecurity and malnutrition, psychosocial support, and social and productive services. This is particularly important in low- and middle-income countries that often have weak social protection systems and which, despite the heterogeneity and diversity of their systems, continue to bear the brunt of displacement due to climate-related disasters.
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