"Dying in Peace" The ongoing emergency in Southern Sudan

Despite the signing of a Peace Agreement in 2005, which ended more than two decades of civil war between the north and the south of Sudan, medical needs in Southern Sudan remain overwhelming. Outbreaks of disease and violence continue, while many people still do not have access to basic health care, resulting in preventable deaths.

Yet, the pressing humanitarian needs in Southern Sudan are not sufficiently covered today, and are only exacerbated by the large-scale return of thousands of displaced people and refugees who rely on already strained resources. Worse still, international funding for emergency assistance has been gradually reduced and redirected towards the reconstruction and development programmes, which, while necessary, are out of phase with the daily reality of people's lives.

MSF has been working in Southern Sudan since 1983, and is today one of the few organisations on the ground remaining to provide healthcare to a population still in great need.