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South Sudan

Peacekeepers with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), on patrol close to the Protection of Civilians site in Bor, South SudanCopyright© UN Photo/JC McIlwaine, via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Young country at high risk of becoming a failed state
Will it turn out to be a historic act or just a temporary ceasefire? In September 2018, South Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit and former Vice President Riek Machar, who had returned from exile, signed a peace agreement. The agreement is hoped to end the civil war in South Sudan, which began in 2013. It remains to be seen whether this hope will materialise. A very similar peace agreement that was concluded in mid-2015 only lasted a little less than a year.
It is already evident that key stipulations of the agreement are not being implemented on schedule. The formation of a transitional government is taking longer than planned, there are ceasefire violations, and the security situation continues to be tense. Time and again, aid agency workers are the victims of targeted attacks.
Humanitarian crisis
In 2011, South Sudan had declared its independence from the Republic of the Sudan. But the government broke apart in 2013. The followers of Salva Kiir and those of Riek Machar have since been fighting each other for control over the country. The causes of the conflict are mainly rooted in the current distribution of political power and economic resources, which had emerged over time and is unfair and based on ethnic criteria.
According to United Nations data, more than seven of the country's twelve million people are in need of humanitarian aid. Half of the population is experiencing extreme food insecurity. Moreover, the violence has caused one of Africa's major refugee crises. An estimated 1.6 million people have been internally displaced, and some 2.2 million people are reported to have fled to neighbouring countries (as at October 2020).
There is a huge need for international support. An entire new state must be built from scratch. This is no easy task, since there are too few properly trained officials available and the political situation makes progress more difficult.
Development cooperation
Due to the political situation, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has suspended its direct cooperation with the Government of South Sudan. Ongoing projects have been adjusted so that measures that take effect comparatively rapidly can mitigate the acute impact of protracted violence.
The BMZ's work in the country focuses on food security and support for particularly vulnerable groups, such as women, children, refugees, internally displaced persons, and communities hosting large numbers of refugees.
Straight to:

At the independence celebrations in South Sudan in 2011, a man is flying the South Sudanese flag.Copyright© Arsenie Coseac, via flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
Renewed eruptions of violence
A clear majority of 98.8 per cent of the people of southern Sudan voted for complete independence from the Republic of the Sudan in January 2011. On 9 July 2011, the change was made official when South Sudan declared its independence and became a sovereign state. The Federal Republic of Germany recognised South Sudan under international law, opening an Embassy in the capital Juba right on the day of independence. Five days later South Sudan was accepted as the 193rd member of the United Nations.
After decades of civil war, the South Sudanese were hoping that independence would bring peace, political stability and economic and social development. From the beginning, it was clear that this would be a long and rocky road. There is a lack of functioning governmental and administrative institutions, managers and people with specialist skills, education and health services, food supplies and infrastructure.
On the Fragile States Index compiled by the Fund for Peace, South Sudan is one of five countries in the "very high alert" group. Corruption dominates public life and is putting a strain on the government's relations with both the people and international donors. On Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018, South Sudan is ranked 178th out of 180 countries evaluated.
Civil war since December 2013
So far, the hope for peace has not materialised. South Sudan has been in the throes of a civil war since December 2013. The reason behind this is the rivalry between two large and mostly ethnically-defined groups, one backing President Salva Kiir, the other supporting former Vice President Riek Machar.
In August 2015, the two sides signed a peace agreement that had been brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). It took until May 2016 until it was implemented and a government was formed. A mere two months later, fighting erupted again.
The peace agreement was revitalised in 2018. In September, Kiir and Machar again signed a treaty in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Among other things, it lays down the distribution of power, taking all opposition parties into account; the formation of a transitional government and Machar's return to the post of Vice President; the restructuring of the military forces; and the definition of the boundaries between states within Sudan, which had been shifted repeatedly during the war. The peace process is to lead to new elections in 2022.
Implementation of the peace agreement is behind schedule. The agreement provided for the formation of a transitional government by May 2019. The deadline has now been extended to November 2019. Local conflicts, including politically motivated cattle theft and retribution killings, are continuing.
Human rights violations
According to data collected by the United Nations, the African Union and various non-governmental organisations, both parties in the conflict have committed grave human rights violations, including ethnically motivated murder, gang rape, kidnapping, sexual slavery of women and girls, and forced recruitment of child soldiers.
There are no reliable figures on the number of people killed in the civil war. A study which the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine presented in September 2018 says that there have been almost 400,000 casualties.
German development cooperation with South Sudan
Germany has been engaged in development cooperation with Sudan since 1972. Cooperation with the Republic of the Sudan was suspended in 1989 because of the civil war. After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, which granted the south of the country extensive autonomy, official bilateral development cooperation in southern Sudan was resumed in 2006, and this continued after the declaration of independence of South Sudan in 2011.
In response to the first eruption of violence in December 2013 and the new outbreak of the civil war in mid-2016, German development cooperation with South Sudan was readjusted. Direct cooperation with the government was stopped, and activities under transitional development assistance (crisis recovery and rehabilitation) and under the BMZ's special initiatives on displacement and on hunger were expanded significantly.
The primary goal of German activities in South Sudan is to provide support, as directly as possible and with the quickest possible impact, to vulnerable groups such as women and children, internally displaced persons, refugees and host communities.
Support for UN organisations and non-governmental organisations
The activities which the BMZ supports in South Sudan focus on improving people's food situation and securing their livelihoods. To that end, the BMZ supports, in particular, programmes run by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). In addition, the BMZ is supporting the work of numerous non-governmental organisations including church-based agencies to help improve the living situation for the people of South Sudan. The thematic focus is on food and agriculture, water and sanitation, education and income generation, and good governance and peacebuilding.
Numerous development activities in the wider region are complementing the BMZ's activities in South Sudan. For example, support is being provided to South Sudan's neighbours Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo with regard to the hosting of refugees from South Sudan.
Map of South Sudan
Development facts and figures
General information
ratio | South Sudan | Data for Germany |
---|---|---|
Country name new window Definition and sourcea16180138 | Republic of South Sudan | Federal Republic of Germany |
Capital new window Definition and sourcea16180110 | Juba, approximately 500,000 inhabitants | Berlin, 3.75 million inhabitants |
Surface area new window Definition and sourcea16180096 | no data available | 357,580 sq km (2018) |
Ranking Human Development Index (HDI) new window Definition and sourcea16180124 | 186 of 189 (2018) | 4 of 189 (2018) |
Development funding
Population data
Poverty
Economy
Communication
Education
Health
Environment
Surface area
Surface area is a country's total area, including areas under inland bodies of water and some coastal waterways.
Ranking Human Development Index (HDI)
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) publishes a Human Development Report once a year. The Human Development Index (HDI) contained in the Report records average figures for a country in fundamentally important fields of human development. These include, for example, life expectancy at birth, level of education and per capita income. From a large number of such individual indicators a ranking is calculated. Using this ranking it is possible to establish the average development status of a particular country.
Country name
Population living in rural areas (% of total)
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.
Population growth rate
Life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.
Population ages 65 and above (% of total)
Population ages 0-14 (% of total)
Volume of German development cooperation
Funds for development cooperation (Technical and Financial Cooperation) committed by the Federal Republic of Germany under intergovernmental agreements.
Total amount of ODA received
Net official development assistance (ODA) consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 percent). Data are in current U.S. dollars.
Amount of ODA received per capita
Net official development assistance (ODA) per capita consists of disbursements of loans made on concessional terms (net of repayments of principal) and grants by official agencies of the members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), by multilateral institutions, and by non-DAC countries to promote economic development and welfare in countries and territories in the DAC list of ODA recipients; and is calculated by dividing net ODA received by the midyear population estimate. It includes loans with a grant element of at least 25 percent (calculated at a rate of discount of 10 percent). Data are in current U.S. dollars.
Undernutrition
Population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (also referred to as prevalence of undernourishment) shows the percentage of the population whose food intake is insufficient to meet dietary energy requirements continuously. Data showing as 2.5 signifies a prevalence of undernourishment below 2.5%.
Population living below the national poverty line (% of total)
National poverty rate is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.
Population living in absolute poverty (% of total)
The percentage of the population living on less than 1.90 US dollars a day at 2011 international prices. The World Bank last changed the definition of this poverty line in October 2015. Previously, it was defined as the percentage of the population living on less than 1.25 US dollars a day at 2005 international prices. Five countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Jordan and Laos) still use this older definition.
Children who complete primary school (% of total)
Primary completion rate is the percentage of students completing the last year of primary school. It is calculated by taking the total number of students in the last grade of primary school, minus the number of repeaters in that grade, divided by the total number of children of official graduation age.
When using this method of calculation the result may be greater than 100 per cent for some countries. This just means that the number of children completing their primary school education in that particular school year was higher than the number of children who were of official school leaving age.
Proportion of school age children attending primary school
Net enrollment ratio is the ratio of children of official school age based on the International Standard Classification of Education 1997 who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.
Literacy rate
Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.
Public spending on education
Public expenditure on education consists of current and capital public expenditure on education includes government spending on educational institutions (both public and private), education administration as well as subsidies for private entities (students/households and other privates entities).
Number of pupils per teacher at primary school level
Primary school pupil-teacher ratio is the number of pupils enrolled in primary school divided by the number of primary school teachers (regardless of their teaching assignment).
Percentage of the population with sustainable access to safe drinking water
Access to an improved water source refers to the percentage of the population with reasonable access to an adequate amount of water from an improved source, such as a household connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected well or spring, and rainwater collection. Unimproved sources include vendors, tanker trucks, and unprotected wells and springs. Reasonable access is defined as the availability of at least 20 liters a person a day from a source within one kilometer of the dwelling.
Immunization, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT) (% of children ages 12-23 months)
Child immunization measures the percentage of children ages 12-23 months who received vaccinations before 12 months or at any time before the survey. A child is considered adequately immunized against diphtheria, pertussis (or whooping cough), and tetanus (DPT) after receiving three doses of vaccine.
Improved sanitation facilities (% of population with access)
Access to an improved water source refers to the percentage of the population with reasonable access to an adequate amount of water from an improved source, such as a household connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected well or spring, and rainwater collection. Unimproved sources include vendors, tanker trucks, and unprotected wells and springs. Reasonable access is defined as the availability of at least 20 liters a person a day from a source within one kilometer of the dwelling.
People using safely managed sanitation services (% of population)
The percentage of people using improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.
Births attended by skilled health staff (% of total)
Births attended by skilled health staff are the percentage of deliveries attended by personnel trained to give the necessary supervision, care, and advice to women during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period; to conduct deliveries on their own; and to care for newborns.
Pregnant women receiving prenatal care (%)
Pregnant women receiving prenatal care are the percentage of women attended at least once during pregnancy by skilled health personnel for reasons related to pregnancy.
Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births)
Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.
Number of mothers who die during pregnancy or childbirth (per 100,000 live births)
Maternal mortality ratio is the number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth, per 100,000 live births. The data are estimated with a regression model using information on fertility, birth attendants, and HIV prevalence.
HIV/AIDS prevalence among the 15-49 age group
Prevalence of HIV refers to the percentage of people ages 15-49 who are infected with HIV.
Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP)
Public expenditure on health from domestic sources as a share of the economy as measured by GDP.
People using safely managed drinking water services (% of population)
The percentage of people using drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.
Roads, paved (% of total roads)
Paved roads are those surfaced with crushed stone (macadam) and hydrocarbon binder or bituminized agents, with concrete, or with cobblestones, as a percentage of all the country's roads, measured in length.
Individuals using the Internet (% of population)
Internet users are individuals who have used the Internet (from any location) in the last 3 months. The Internet can be used via a computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, games machine, digital TV etc.
Passenger cars (per 1,000 people)
Passenger cars refer to road motor vehicles, other than two-wheelers, intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than nine people (including the driver).
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people)
Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions are subscriptions to a public mobile telephone service using cellular technology, which provide access to the public switched telephone network. Post-paid and prepaid subscriptions are included.
Land under cultivation (% of total land area)
Agricultural land refers to the share of land area that is arable, under permanent crops, and under permanent pastures. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Land abandoned as a result of shifting cultivation is excluded. Land under permanent crops is land cultivated with crops that occupy the land for long periods and need not be replanted after each harvest, such as cocoa, coffee, and rubber. This category includes land under flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes land under trees grown for wood or timber. Permanent pasture is land used for five or more years for forage, including natural and cultivated crops.
Land classified as conservation areas (% of total land area)
Terrestrial protected areas are those officially documented by national authorities.
Forested land (% of total land area)
Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.
Level of carbon emissions per capita (in tons)
Carbon dioxide emissions are those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement. They include carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid, liquid, and gas fuels and gas flaring.
Power consumption per inhabitant
Electric power consumption measures the production of power plants and combined heat and power plants less transmission, distribution, and transformation losses and own use by heat and power plants.
Jobs in agriculture (% of total)
Employees are people who work for a public or private employer and receive remuneration in wages, salary, commission, tips, piece rates, or pay in kind. Agriculture corresponds to division 1 (ISIC revision 2) or tabulation categories A and B (ISIC revision 3) and includes hunting, forestry, and fishing.
Energy imports (% of total energy consumption)
Net energy imports are estimated as energy use less production, both measured in oil equivalents. A negative value indicates that the country is a net exporter. Energy use refers to use of primary energy before transformation to other end-use fuels, which is equal to indigenous production plus imports and stock changes, minus exports and fuels supplied to ships and aircraft engaged in international transport.
Child labour (% of children aged 7 to 14)
Economically active children refer to children involved in economic activity for at least one hour in the reference week of the survey.
Unemployment rate
Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. Definitions of labor force and unemployment differ by country.
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$)
Foreign direct investment are the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows net inflows (new investment inflows less disinvestment) in the reporting economy from foreign investors. Data are in current U.S. Dollars.
Total foreign debt
Total external debt is debt owed to non-residents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
GNI (current US$)
GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. Data are in current U.S. dollars. GNI, calculated in national currency, is usually converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates for comparisons across economies, although an alternative rate is used when the official exchange rate is judged to diverge by an exceptionally large margin from the rate actually applied in international transactions. To smooth fluctuations in prices and exchange rates, a special Atlas method of conversion is used by the World Bank. This applies a conversion factor that averages the exchange rate for a given year and the two preceding years, adjusted for differences in rates of inflation between the country, and through 2000, the G-5 countries (France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States). From 2001, these countries include the Euro area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
GNI per capita (current US$)
GNI per capita (formerly GNP per capita) is the gross national income, converted to U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method, divided by the midyear population. GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad. GNI, calculated in national currency, is usually converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates for comparisons across economies, although an alternative rate is used when the official exchange rate is judged to diverge by an exceptionally large margin from the rate actually applied in international transactions. To smooth fluctuations in prices and exchange rates, a special Atlas method of conversion is used by the World Bank. This applies a conversion factor that averages the exchange rate for a given year and the two preceding years, adjusted for differences in rates of inflation between the country, and through 2000, the G-5 countries (France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States). From 2001, these countries include the Euro area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)
Exports of goods and services represent the value of all goods and other market services provided to the rest of the world. They include the value of merchandise, freight, insurance, transport, travel, royalties, license fees, and other services, such as communication, construction, financial, information, business, personal, and government services. They exclude compensation of employees and investment income (formerly called factor services) and transfer payments.
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP)
Imports of goods and services represent the value of all goods and other market services received from the rest of the world. They include the value of merchandise, freight, insurance, transport, travel, royalties, license fees, and other services, such as communication, construction, financial, information, business, personal, and government services. They exclude compensation of employees and investment income (formerly called factor services) and transfer payments.
Inflation
Inflation as measured by the consumer price index reflects the annual percentage change in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals, such as yearly. The Laspeyres formula is generally used.
Debt service as percentage of exports of goods and services and net income from abroad
Total debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in foreign currency, goods, or services on long-term debt, interest paid on short-term debt, and repayments (repurchases and charges) to the IMF. Exports of goods and services includes income and workers' remittances.
Industry, value added (% of GDP)
Industry corresponds to ISIC divisions 10-45 and includes manufacturing (ISIC divisions 15-37). It comprises value added in mining, manufacturing (also reported as a separate subgroup), construction, electricity, water, and gas. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3.
Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)
Agriculture corresponds to ISIC divisions 1-5 and includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3.
Services, value added (% of GDP)
Services correspond to ISIC divisions 50-99 and they include value added in wholesale and retail trade (including hotels and restaurants), transport, and government, financial, professional, and personal services such as education, health care, and real estate services. Also included are imputed bank service charges, import duties, and any statistical discrepancies noted by national compilers as well as discrepancies arising from rescaling. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The industrial origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 3 or 4.
GDP growth (annual %)
Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2000 U.S. dollars. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources

Goats surrounding a hutCopyright© Amy Ashcraft, via flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Further information
Here you can find selected links to websites with more information on development policy in South Sudan