Oxfam's work in Sudan in depth

Southern Sudan is emerging from decades of brutal war, in which an estimated 2 million people died of conflict and disease, and 4 million people lost their homes. A peace agreement was signed between the North and South in 2005 – but the deal is increasingly fragile and southern Sudan remains one of the poorest and least developed regions in the world. Increased violence in early 2009 has forced over 130,000 people to flee their homes in the first half of the year – nearly as many as in Darfur.

Oxfam has been working in the south for 25 years. When war erupted in 1983, we began by providing emergency water to people who fled the violence. Over the following two decades, we have helped some of the most marginalised and devastated communities by providing vital water, healthcare and basic shelter, and responding to disasters such as famines and floods.

Interactive timeline: history of Oxfam in Sudan

After the peace agreement was signed, many of the millions of people who were forced to flee during the war have begun to return home. But they and the communities who remained need to be able to rebuild their lives. They need access to basic services such as water and sanitation, and opportunities to earn an income. There are few hospitals, schools or paved roads. The lives of generations have been shattered by decades of war.

Oxfam works in three southern Sudanese states – Upper Nile, Lakes, and Western Equatoria. We are drilling boreholes to provide villagers with steady supplies of clean water; constructing new latrines for schoolchildren; supporting villages to start farms, grow food and care for their livestock; and responding to humanitarian emergencies caused by ongoing violence and natural disasters such as flooding.

Providing clean water can have a dramatic impact on people’s lives. A quarter of southern villages still rely on river water as their main source, which can make them particularly vulnerable to water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera. Lack of water sources can also affects issues like school attendance, with children taken out of the school in the dry season to collect water for their families. Oxfam’s programmes are aimed not only at providing urgent humanitarian aid, but working with communities to build a better long-term future for Sudan.

Last updated: June 2009