Seeds of Resilience: Returnees Find Empowerment After Displacement
For Achol Michar Achui, 30, a South Sudanese returnee, coming back home after years in Sudan felt surreal and a distant possibility. But in May 2023, after fighting intensified in Khartoum, where Achol and her family had made home, she decided to flee once more with her husband and four young children; first by horse-drawn cart, then by foot.
Since war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, according to the UNHCR Operational Data Portal, some 655,000+ (as of April 2024) Sudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees have crossed the border into South Sudan. 75% of these arrivals into South Sudan are women and children.
The existing humanitarian need within South Sudan itself is growing with increased pressure on already strained resources. However, with the support from partners IOM and USAID, and other humanitarian organisations operating, those fleeing the devastating conflict and violence in Sudan are able to safely rebuild their future.
“Getting the opportunity to own our own vegetable gardeN after getting displaced is really something good to us. It will ensure that our children have something to eat.”
Together with our partners IOM and USAID, we have been supporting South Sudanese returnees, as well as vulnerable host community members, via a Rapid Response Fund (RRF) three-month Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) project in Abiemnhom County. We have been supporting the registration of 2,878 households, providing seed and livelihood kits to enable them to grow their own vegetable gardens, as well as training on good agronomic practices to ensure sustainability for farmers in the community
“Now we can even sell some of the vegetables to get other things in the market like sugar and cooking oil. I will be very happy to own my own garden now.”
For returnees like Achol, simply knowing there is an opportunity for her and her family to regain hope, and to feel empowered after such uncertainty caused by displacement is greatly welcomed; and serves to allow individuals to re-imagine their future.
