South Sudanese Returnees Regain Hope with Livelihoods Project

When Ajak Lam Kuol fled South Sudan during the civil war, little did she imagine the life she had now built in Khartoum would be shattered once more. Ajak, 34, arrived in Awirpiny Payam, in Abiemnhom County in October 2023 with her husband and three children.

She has been supported through our recently concluded Rapid Response Fund Food Security and Livelihoods project, with seed distribution to support her in growing her own garden plot.

These seeds that have been distributed to us will help us a lot and we shall be able to plant and grow our own vegetables instead of getting them from the market.

The economic hardship faced by thousands of those fleeing war in Sudan means that purchasing food items is met with great difficulty. However, through WART, with the generous support from IOM’s Rapid Response Fund, achieving financial independence is imagined once more for returnees, like Ajak.

After war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, according to UNHCR Operational Data Portal, 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 in a country with 2.1 million internally displaced persons and millions more in need of humanitarian assistance. However, with the generous 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.

We shall also be able to sell some of the vegetables and get some money to buy some other things for our family.

For returnees like Ajak, knowing there is now a fresh opportunity to regain hope and financial stability to support her family through these vegetable garden plots, after such uncertainty caused by displacement is greatly welcomed; and serves to allow individuals to rebuild their futures.