Protection

This guide provides an overview of social protection concepts, approaches, issues, debates and evidence, and a selection of key references and signposting to further resources. It primarily focuses on longer-term developmental social protection rather than humanitarian responses, and on low-income countries, including in contexts of shocks, and draws on other income contexts where appropriate.

On July 11, 2023, the Protection Cluster South Sudan (PC) and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, conducted a rapid protection assessment exercise in three locations identified as arrival points for South Sudanese returnees who recently arrived from Sudan in Juba County. The teams consisted of UNHCR staff members and UNHCR’s implementing partner staff from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Humanitarian Development Consortium (HDC). The purpose of the assessment was to get an idea of the situation of the returnees and IDPs at the site.

Joint key messaging on the threats against humanitarian workers in South Sudan.

South Sudan’s refugee population stands at 2.2 million, the highest on the continent despite the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018. The Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity of South Sudan was established on 22 February 2020. While this event marks an important development to improve prospects for viable comprehensive solutions for the millions of South Sudan’s forcibly displaced, several critical issues are still to be resolved during the pre-and transitional phases prescribed by the R-ARCSS.

While some spontaneous returns have been recorded, these are in large part pendular movements prompted by a different set of factors which include dwindling livelihood opportunities in countries of asylum and changing perceptions about security in South Sudan. Over 70 per cent of these returnees have not been able to return to their prior places of habitual residence. UNHCR and its partners in South Sudan do not have access to many return areas due to insecurity. Sample intention surveys conducted in 2019 in all asylum countries have shown that a majority of South Sudanese refugees do not intend to return in the near future. In fact in 2019, over 74,000 South Sudanese new arrivals were recorded in Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.

UNICEF has globally implemented a new procedure and tools related to prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and its partnerships with NGOs.