Concern supports 30,000 people in South Sudan with healthcare and cash assistance

The Irish humanitarian organisation is providing essential medical care at five health centres across two states in South Sudan, which are highly vulnerable to natural disasters, conflict and severe food insecurity among other issues. It’s also providing cash to disaster-affected populations to improve their food security.

The Saving Lives Together programme, funded by the European Union, includes providing antenatal and maternal care such as safe birth deliveries by trained midwives, child immunisation, and hygiene and nutrition lessons for parents and caregivers. In addition, Concern is also renovating and repairing the health centres, which includes improving the water and sanitation facilities, and providing transport to more specialised health clinics for patients with serious medical issues.

“Families are seeing real change – fewer children are dangerously malnourished, and more are getting the care they need to survive and grow. In a place where shocks are constant, support like this is not optional; it is what keeps people alive and gives them a fighting chance,” said Zlatko Gegic, Concern’s Country Director in South Sudan.

Concern has also been working with local health authorities to run cholera awareness campaigns, following outbreaks of the fatal illness in various communities. Cholera is commonly caused by bacteria in dirty water.

South Sudan is facing many challenges. Within its own borders it faces political instability with the insecurity and violence that brings.  Catastrophic floods in 2025 affected more than 1 million people across six of the country’s 10 states and saw large swathes of the country under water for months on end. 9.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, more than two thirds of the population.

The sustained conflict in its northern neighbour, Sudan, has seen more than 1.3 million people cross the border seeking refuge. That includes an estimated 910,000 people who had originally fled violence in South Sudan, moved to Sudan, and are now returning due to the war there.

Ajok Dong’s family are originally from Aweil in South Sudan, but she was born in Khartoum, Sudan. In October 2025 she returned to her homeland, which she had never lived in before. The ruralness of Aweil is a total contrast to her former life in a big city like Khartoum. 

“Because I grew up in a very different environment than this village, I was struggling a lot in the beginning. I had no idea about farming or any of the local livelihood techniques. I had no idea how to provide for my child and husband,” she explains.

Ajok was amongst the people in her community who received cash assistance and training from Concern. 

“Since this year I am learning to cultivate the land and to weed the patches. The cash support will help me to bridge the time until I can yield my own harvest. I can now feed my child”.

Cash assistance distributed by Concern reached almost 10,000 people, with each supported with the equivalent sum of €89.

The village of Kuer Latjor in Guit County, Unity State is one of the most remote areas that Concern works in in South Sudan, providing health, nutrition, water and sanitation services to the community. In 2021 it was cut off from the rest of the county by severe floods, which have not receded and have effectively turned the village of 3,300 people into an island, only accessible by a small gondola canoe. 

At the health facility there’s a team of a midwife, nutrition officer and assistant, a nurse and vaccinator. Concern, with support from the European Commission, WFP and UNICEF, built a new healthcare unit, nutrition site, and sanitary facilities. Solar panels provide electricity to run a fridge to store vaccines that can be delivered at the correct temperature. All, including the materials to build the healthcare unit, had to be delivered via the only transport option available, the small gondola.

Concern has been operational in South Sudan (then part of Sudan) since 1985, operating from Khartoum and Nairobi. In 1998 Concern set up a base in South Sudan and since then has been providing both humanitarian assistance and taking a longer term development approach, underlying our long term commitment to the areas and people we serve.

For further information contact Eilis Staunton, Media Relations Officer, Concern Worldwide, at eilis.staunton@concern.net or +353 85 872 0720