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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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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