Recovery Along the White Nile

A ghost town in recovery

Malakal used to be a bustling city, the second largest in South Sudan after the capital Juba. But since conflict erupted in 2013, what was once a thriving trading hub along the White Nile has largely become a ghost town, devastated by years of fighting and shifting frontlines, and isolated by a lack of roads. 

The challenges of the past two years alone feel endless: renewed violence, influx of refugees and returnees from Sudan, a cholera outbreak declared, to name a few.

Yet the people in South Sudan refuse to give up. Since the start of the conflict in 2013, nearly 3 million formerly displaced persons have returned home, within the country and from abroad, amid moments of cautious peace. The Upper Nile State, home to Malakal, has the largest number of returns with over 700,000 returnees reported, including 400,000 who were formerly displaced within the country. Some 225,000 remain internally displaced.

“The situation is not always encouraging. But the thought that I still have work and that my children can go to school helps me get through each day,” said 28-years old Cecilia, a displaced vegetable seller and the breadwinner for her family of seven. 
 

With her home destroyed in past fighting, Cecilia and her family have been living in the Malakal “Protection of Civilians” (PoC) site, a safe haven established by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) since 2013 to protect civilians in imminent danger. Her husband struggles to find lasting employment, while Cecilia goes to the town center every day to sell at her stall. 

When clashes broke out near Malakal earlier this March, the family stayed in the site for several weeks without leaving, fearing for their lives. Cecilia only resumed working in the market in May for limited hours, going back to the PoC site before the crack of dawn. 
 

“I have to support my family, no matter what,” she stressed.

Adapting to funding threats 

In 2025, communities in South Sudan are grappling with volatile clashes, hunger, disease outbreaks, climate impacts and protracted displacement. Over 92 per cent of the population live in poverty. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance – the majority are women and children. More than 2 million people are internally displaced, including 900,000 in camps and displacement sites. 

The situation is further exacerbated by unprecedented funding cuts, affecting work in humanitarian assistance, development and peacebuilding. 

Many health facilities and services have already shut down, with medical supplies reduced, cutting access to healthcare for as many as 1.6 million people, including pregnant women and malnourished children. Reductions in food aid are endangering families already struggling to survive.
 

Amidst shrinking resources and thousands of staff reductions, the UN and its partners are scaling up area-based coordination - a more localized approach that decentralizes decision-making - to enhance operational efficiency and reduce aid dependency.

Area-based coordination brings together humanitarian, development and peace workers at the state level to conduct joint programming informed by community priorities, exchange information, synergize joint efforts and avoid overlaps. So far, three Area-Based Coordinators are in Upper Nile, Unity and Western Bahr el Ghazal. By December, there will be an Area-Based Coordinator covering each of the ten states in South Sudan. 

This area-based approach is not new to the operation, having been piloted in three states since 2023. It also coincided with the Government’s launch of its Durable Solutions Strategy, one year later, in an effort to create lasting solutions for South Sudanese living in protracted displacement - shifting away from a historically humanitarian-dominant response.

Supporting safe returns – when possible 

In Upper Nile, area-based coordination has already been put to the test to support voluntary returns from the Malakal PoC site. 

In 2023, a group of displaced community members originally from Hai Matar, in Malakal, came together to voice to the Government their desire to leave the PoC site. The area is only a 20-minute drive from the PoC site, but families struggle to go back without assurances of safety, essential services and livelihood opportunities.

The community’s demands were raised with the Area-Based Coordinator, who brought together local authorities and field focal points from NGOs and UN entities to chart an action plan for returns to Hai Matar, in line with the Durable Solutions Roadmap for the Upper Nile. 

Given Malakal’s history as an epicenter of conflict, a key priority was to ensure the environment was safe for return. 

Between April and September 2024, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) cleared 5 million square meters of land contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance. At the same time, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) protection teams conducted verification exercises and assisted families in the PoC site with restoration of land title deeds and legal counseling prior to them moving. This was key to minimize land disputes among neighbors, allowing peaceful relocation. 

Then came the shelters: 118 constructed by UNHCR and 51 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to house the 900 returnees. To enhance protection and security, UNHCR established a police point on site, with UNMISS, as well as a community center that offers a safe space for women’s groups and residents to discuss shared concerns. 

All of these efforts were carried out under the leadership of community leaders and the Government, including the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), in partnership with NGOs who drive implementation on the ground.
 

Before:

After:

A new beginning in Hai Matar

Families have started returning to Hai Matar in late 2024, the majority this year. 

Gathy, his wife, and four children - three boys and a baby girl who grew up in displacement - were among the returnees, first stepping into their new home in the summer. They fled Hai Matar in 2019 for the PoC site, seeking refuge from the fighting. What they initially thought would be a temporary arrangement soon turned into six years of life in a crowded tent. 
 

“There were too many people for the little space that we had. There was no room for breathing,” recounted Gathy of his former life.

His new home in Hai Matar, made out of mud mixed with soil and dry grass, now has separate rooms for his wife and children’s privacy. He has an iron sheet roof that protects against the rain, and a garden space where he grows tomatoes, okras, hibiscus and eggplants. His ducks roams freely without the fear he once had that they might be stolen. 

Gathy used to cook for a cafeteria in the PoC site, but the money earned, on top of the food aid he received, was only enough for his family’s day-to-day survival.

Today, he has entrepreneurial aspirations: “These days, I take on cash-for-work jobs when possible and sell my ducks’ eggs. Once my vegetables are grown, I plan to sell them at the market in town.” 

“I hope the income will allow me to buy food, pens, and pay my children's school fees. My wish is for all my children to go to school and live a life free from these hardships,” he added.

For now, the family receives food aid rations and water trucking while longer-term projects are underway. UNMAS continues to clear land of remaining remnants of war in Hai Matar, facilitating farming projects by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and IOM’s installation of a fully solar-powered water supply system. 

Hai Matar is just the starting point, with area-based coordination plans already in place to support returns to Hai Salam, a more remote area farther from Malakal’s city center, as resources permit.

No straight path home 

While return movements remain dynamic across South Sudan, those in displacement also continue to need assistance. 

For families who have lived in displacement for years on end, unable to return home, their needs extend beyond humanitarian relief to having access to capacity-building and livelihood opportunities – enabling people to rebuild their lives until the day they no longer need aid. 

In the Malakal market, Cecilia recounted her experience last year as one of 1,000 entrepreneurs in Upper Nile who attended business training led by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of South Sudan: “I learned record keeping and budgeting, which has helped me feel more in control of my business.” 

Cecilia received an interest-free loan in two installments, with repayment due in 12 months. She used the money to buy sorghum, a drought-resistant cereal grain, from another city in Upper Nile as part of her business plan to diversify her stall. Once repaid, the loans are extended to other qualifying applicants, allowing for sustainability. 
 

“I am thankful for the support which has restored our confidence,” she shared.
 

The sorghum was very popular with her customers, enabling her to save some income, which she sets aside to rebuild a house outside the PoC site. Cecilia, who has successfully repaid her loans, is also a part of a women's group, locally known as “sanduk sanduk,” that saves money on a daily basis. 

But in South Sudan, external shocks remain a key challenge to sustaining livelihoods. 

The economy’s instability has caused her savings to reduce in value amidst prices that kept changing “every week.” Severe flooding this year, which has displaced over 335,000 people across 16 counties, has devastated farmland, resulting in a lower-than-average supply of vegetables for her to sell. Additionally, many of her former customers from neighboring towns have yet to return after being displaced by clashes in March. 

Cecilia voiced her message to the international community: “Mothers here are struggling to raise their children. Women and girls in South Sudan continue to need help, especially opportunities to learn and grow so they can support their family.” 

Back in Hai Matar, Gathy echoed a similar sentiment: “In South Sudan, we need to work in unity to lift our country because it is a young nation and it needs a lot of work. All of us are working to uplift our country. I hope one day we won't need to rely on help.”
 

Footnotes: Text and photos, taken in October 2025, by Madevi Sun-Suon from the UN Resident Coordinator's Office (RCO) unless otherwise noted. Thank you to the on-the-ground support of Dalibor Stanusic (UNMAS), Charles Chop Kuony Wapuoy (UNHCR), Mahmood Godo (UNDP) and Sabit Bol (IOM).