The humanitarian situation in South Sudan remains dire with nearly 70 percent of the population in need of humanitarian assistance. The country is among the worst globally on key health performance indicators as it faces a catastrophic food crisis. Around 75 percent of all child deaths are due to preventable diseases, such as diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are endemic in the country. Devastating flooding, political instability and COVID-19 have exacerbated the crises and threatened lives and livelihoods across South Sudan. A third of the population, an estimated 4 million people, remain displaced.
IMA World Health (IMA) has a major role in the development of the health care system in South Sudan. Since 2008, IMA has been working with South Sudan’s nascent government ministries, international and national partners, and other health organizations to strengthen the health system’s capacity to deliver high-quality essential health care services, implement community-based HIV/AIDS prevention interventions, and improve maternal, neonatal and child health outcomes. Even after the violent conflicts that began in 2013, IMA continued working with the local government and primary health care providers state-wide in Upper Nile and Jonglei to facilitate service delivery and emergency response. Despite ongoing and ever-changing challenges, IMA and our local partners have continued to support hundreds of thousands of people across South Sudan.
Project Highlights
Urgent Continuation of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) Services
By partnering with the END Fund, IMA strengthens local health systems to support in VL prevention, treatment, and control in South Sudan. VL, also known as kala-azar, is a debilitating, and if left untreated, fatal neglected tropical disease (NTD) that over two million people are at risk of contracting across South Sudan. IMA advances local leadership by supporting 25 health facilities in the four disease-prevalent states through the provision of medication and diagnostics, training health care workers on VL identification and treatment, and deploying community health volunteers to promote awareness and local engagement. In support of the government’s national VL strategy, IMA is bolstering local capacity for health facility management, improving integration of VL services into the primary health care system, facilitating national and state joint planning for VL control, establishing lab-based surveillance and data-sharing strategies, and improving case detection through rapid testing.
Emergency Reproductive Health Services of IDP and Host Communities
The UNFPA-funded project seeks to achieve improved access to sexual and reproductive health and the provision of gender-based violence services among crisis-affected populations in Jonglei State and Mingkaman IDP camp, through the provision and referral of basic and emergency obstetric care in supported health facilities and reproductive health clinics. Women and girls are also empowered through training on income-generating activities at Women and Girl Friendly Spaces. The project has provided services through mobile clinics and health outreach activities that enabled delivery of GBV support in emergencies to over 49,000 people. Additionally, over 43,000 youth received integrated youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health education.
Livelihoods Options Support to IDP Households (LOSIH)
In August 2020, severe flooding in South Sudan’s Ayod County displaced families, disrupted lives and livelihoods and severed access to markets and humanitarian services. Many affected were vulnerable internally displaced people (IDPs) already facing acute food insecurity and malnutrition. IMA has implemented emergency nutrition interventions targeting IDPs and host communities in Ayod County since 2017. Now, as a permanent partner of Lutheran World Relief (LWR) under the Corus International family of organizations, IMA combines its expertise in nutrition programming with LWR’s proven ability to strengthen rural livelihoods in South Sudan. The LOSIH Project takes this integrated approach to provide the resources and skills needed to both reduce severe and moderate acute malnutrition in children under five as well as to expand income-generating opportunities for households through nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions focusing on kitchen gardening, fishing, and post-harvest handling.
Essential Services for IDPs & Returnees (ESIR)
Through the Essential Services (Health, Nutrition, WASH, Agriculture, Food Security) for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and Returnees (ESIR) Project, IMA provided both routine and emergency medical services in Morobo, Lainya, and Kajo-Keji counties in Central Equatoria State. The project implemented a multi-sectoral response designed to ensure vulnerable returnees and IDPs had increased access to life-saving health services, including gender-based violence services. As the health partner on this project, IMA supported 6 static and 3 mobile clinic across the 3 border counties, providing health services to vulnerable target beneficiaries with routine outpatient consultations, referral support to higher levels of care, antenatal care services (ANC), skilled birth delivery, facility health education, and the expanded program on immunization (EPI). The project also increases resiliency by strengthening the health outreach system, with community health workers engaged in the communities to share malaria prevention messaging and encourage good hygiene practices.
Rapid Results Health Project
In partnership with South Sudan’s Ministry of Health and with funding from the World Bank, IMA led the Rapid Results Health Project from 2013 to 2018 to increase access to comprehensive family planning and reproductive health services to over 3 million people living in the Greater Upper Nile and Greater Jonglei regions. Interventions focused on high impact health care services including HIV/AIDS prevention and gender-based violence response as well as improving service coverage to children under five and pregnant women through assisted delivery and basic emergency obstetric and neonatal services.
The Corus Effect
Founded in 1960, IMA World Health is part of Corus International, an ensemble of long-serving, global leaders in international development and humanitarian assistance committed to ending poverty and building healthy communities across Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa.
In addition to IMA World Health, the Corus family includes global aid and development organization Lutheran World Relief, U.K.-based technology for development company CGA Technologies, impact investing firm Ground Up Investing, and direct trade company Farmers Market Brands.
Alongside communities and local partners in fragile settings, our dedicated experts across our organizations integrate disciplines, approaches and resources to overcome global health challenges, develop productive and stable economies, improve resilience in the face of climate change, and respond to natural disasters and humanitarian crises. We invest in solutions that are innovative, scalable, holistic and move the needle towards transformational change.
