Concern supports 30,000 people in South Sudan with healthcare and cash assistance

Concern Worldwide has supported nearly 30,000 people in accessing health care and emergency cash assistance over the last 18 months in the world’s youngest country, South Sudan.

Concern is providing essential medical care at five health centers across two states in South Sudan, areas highly vulnerable to natural disasters, conflict, and severe food insecurity. The organization is also distributing cash to disaster-affected populations to improve food security.

The Saving Lives Together program, funded by the European Union, includes prenatal and maternal care such as safe birth deliveries by trained midwives, child immunization, and hygiene and nutrition lessons for parents and caregivers. In addition, Concern Worldwide is renovating and repairing health centers, improving water and sanitation facilities, and providing transport to more specialized health clinics for patients with serious medical issues.

“Families are seeing real change – fewer children are dangerously malnourished, and more are getting the care they need to survive and grow. In a place where shocks are constant, support like this is not optional; it is what keeps people alive and gives them a fighting chance,” said Zlatko Gegic, Concern’s Country Director in South Sudan.

Concern has also been working with local health authorities to run cholera awareness campaigns following outbreaks of the fatal illness in various communities. Cholera is commonly caused by bacteria in contaminated water.

South Sudan is facing many challenges. Within it's own borders, it faces ongoing political instability which has led to widespread insecurity and violence. Catastrophic floods in 2025 affected more than 1 million people across six of the country’s 10 states and saw large swaths of the country under water for months on end. 9.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, more than two thirds of the population. 

The sustained conflict in its northern neighbor, Sudan, has seen more than 1.3 million people cross the border seeking refuge. That includes an estimated 910,000 people who had originally fled violence in South Sudan, moved to Sudan, and are now returning due to the war there. 

Ajok Dong’s family are originally from Aweil in South Sudan, but she was born in Khartoum, Sudan. In October 2025 she returned to her homeland, which she had never lived in before. The ruralness of Aweil is a total contrast to her former life in a big city like Khartoum.  

“Because I grew up in a very different environment than this village, I was struggling a lot in the beginning. I had no idea about farming or any of the local livelihood techniques. I had no idea how to provide for my child and husband,” she explains. 

Ajok was amongst the people in her community who received cash assistance and training from Concern.  

“Since this year I am learning to cultivate the land and to weed the patches. The cash support will help me to bridge the time until I can yield my own harvest. I can now feed my child”. 

Concern provided cash assistance to almost 10,000 people, with each receiving the equivalent of $102.

The village of Kuer Latjor in Guit County, Unity State is one of the most remote areas that Concern works with in South Sudan, providing health, nutrition, water and sanitation services to the community. In 2021 it was cut off from the rest of the county by severe floods, which have not receded and have effectively turned the village of 3,300 people into an island, only accessible by a small gondola canoe.  

At the health facility, there is a team consisting of a midwife, a nutrition officer and assistant, a nurse, and a vaccinator. With support from the European Commission, WFP, and UNICEF, Concern built a new healthcare unit, nutrition site, and sanitation facilities. Solar panels provide electricity to power a refrigerator that stores vaccines at the correct temperature. Everything, including the materials needed to build the healthcare unit, had to be transported using the only available option: a small gondola canoe. 

Concern Worldwide has been operational in South Sudan (then part of Sudan) since 1985, initially working from Khartoum and Nairobi. In 1998, Concern established a base in South Sudan, and since then have provided both humanitarian assistance and longer-term development programs, reflecting it's long-term commitment to the communities we serve.