Situation of children, women remain alarming in South Sudan despite progress: survey
By Denis Ejulu
The situation of children and women in South Sudan in terms of access to health, nutrition, education and water, sanitation and hygiene services remains dire despite recent notable progress, a new survey said on Tuesday.
The first-ever South Sudan Multiple Indicator Survey (MICS) launched in partnership between the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that only five percent of children receive a minimum acceptable diet, while 43 percent of women aged 20-24 years were married before the age of 18.
The survey covered health, nutrition, education, child protection, WASH and household wellbeing sampled 12,000 households across all the 10 states and three administrative areas.
It revealed that 19 percent of the children are stunted and only 9 percent of children in grade 2-3 can read a simple story while only three percent of households have access to basic sanitation services.
Thok Turuk Thok, Deputy Minister of Finance and planning noted that despite some encouraging progress mortality rates remain high requiring continued investments in maternal -new born and child health including strong focus on family planning and birth spacing.
“Nutrition indicators also highlight major challenges especially poor infant and young child feeding practices and widespread child food poverty. These issues directly affect capital development and long-term productivity. At the same time education and WASH sectors continue to show limited progress and require renewed attention and investment,” Thok said during the launch in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
He disclosed that budgetary resources allocation will prioritize high need sectors and underserved geographical areas to ensure equity, efficiency and a stronger development impact.
In addition, the survey disclosed that among notable improvements include maternal and new born health, where it noted that 51 percent of births are attended by a skilled health worker while at least 71 percent of infants continue to breast feed beyond one year.
Augustino Ting Mayai, Director General of the National Bureau of Statistics said that the survey provides evidence that can help understand realities facing women and children, measuring progress, identifying gaps and prioritizing interventions with greater precision.
“Today’s dissemination is not simply about presenting a paper or report. It is about bolstering evidence based decision making across sectors in our country mixed in a certain iteration provides reliable statistics, and as many of us are aware reliable statistics are the bed rock of effective policy, better services and accountable governance,” Mayai said.
Noala Skinner, UNICEF representative in South Sudan said that the survey confirms the need to act with urgency and deliberate investments in essential services to ensure children access the needs they deserve in life.
“The data clearly show the urgent need for greater investment in health, nutrition, education, protection, and water and sanitation. UNICEF remains committed to working with the Government and partners to translate this evidence into action so that every child can survive, learn and thrive,” Skinner said.
She noted that mortality rates remain far too high and access to life saving services such as caesarian section (C-section) are still extremely limited, despite the decline in infant and under-five mortality since 2010.
