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In this region of Warrap State, which lacks food, water and healthcare services, and faces recurrent outbreaks of diseases, the displaced families are encountering a strained situation in Twic County. The floodwater destroyed the crops and made it impossible to harvest more, creating a food shortage over the course of many long months. 

Under the shadow of a tree, a group is gathering, exchanging greetings. Peter, a mental health counsellor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Margaret Abuk, MSF health promoter, are conducting an awareness and educational session for a group of overfifty people. A woman in the background is carrying a jerrycan of water on her head, walking slowly to go back to her shelter. In the distance, two children are standing hand in hand the older taking care of the younger. It is a normal day in Gomgoi camp, South Sudan, where 10,000 internally displace people have settled after fleeing the city of Agok, located a few dozen kilometres north, in February 2022, due to violence.

In this region of Warrap State, which lacks food, water and healthcare services, and faces recurrent outbreaks of diseases, the displaced families are encountering a strained situation in Twic County. On top of that, the floods that affected the west side of the county worsened an already dire situation. The floodwater destroyed the crops and made it impossible to harvest more, creating a food shortage over the course of many long months. The displaced families have lived for over a year in makeshift camps made of wooden sticks, and pieces of fabrics or plastic sheeting. For these people, the normality they have settled into is far from being normal, more than one year on.

Fleeing the violence and settling in the camps

Margaret Abuk, MSF community health worker, is one of the people who fled south into Twic County. She has been living in a shelter with her three daughters, in Majak Aher camp, next to Turalei town.

“Because of the conflict, because we were afraid, because people were killing us and our children, we had to run,” she explains. “I decided to come to Turalei because I knew there is public administration and protection as well as non-governmental organisations that would help us in the camp.”

Following the displaced population, MSF moved its activities from Agok—where the organisation had been running a hospital for eight years—to respond to the urgent needs of the newly displaced people. From March 2022, MSF teams started to offer humanitarian and medical assistance to displaced people within the Twic County. As well as running the mobile clinics, MSF distributed food, plastic sheeting, and other relief items and constructed latrines and water points in six of the seven makeshift camps.

“MSF was the only organisation providing assistance to us. For example, the blanket I have in my shelter and on which my children sleep every night is the one I've received from MSF last June,” Margaret adds.

Today, 30,000 persons are still living in dire conditions in the displaced camps, and the medical team witnesses the consequences of violence and displacement on the patients they treat. Amou Lang Deng is the mother of Adhar Deng, a 16-month-old girl, who suffers from severe acute malnutrition. She was admitted to the MSF-supported clinic of Mayen-Abun for fever and diarrhoea. The baby is anaemic and needs regular blood transfusion while still being fed through a nasogastric tube. Amou Lang Deng delivered her in MSF's Agok hospital. In February, when violence erupted in Agok, she moved with her three young children and newborn baby to Abindau displaced camp, and still lives there with them. She does not remember any detail about her fleeing.

“Life in the camp is very difficult as there is no food,” tells Amou Lang Deng. “There are some organisations, but delays between distributions are important, and the quantities are insufficient. It's been seven days since I'm in the hospital. I'm sure the food is finished since long time and my three other children are too young to look for food. When you look at my children, you can tell that food is missing, because they are very skinny.”

Focusing on comprehensive care to address urgent needs

From August 2022, MSF's work shifted from an emergency response to a comprehensive and decentralised offer of medical care through the support of an 86-bed hospital in Mayen-Abun, two health posts in Gomgoi and Nyin Deng Ayuel, as well as in four community sites in the camps (Aweng, Majak Aher, Majok Noon and Abindau).

At the MSF-supported clinic in Mayen-Abun, MSF works hand in hand with the Ministry of Health to provide comprehensive care from outpatient consultations to emergency care and maternity, and hospital. A chronic care unit was also opened, as there are very few options for patients suffering from HIV or tuberculosis for instance. The MSF teams also offer psychological support to the individuals traumatised by violence and difficult life in the camps. Many patients seek care in this location. To reduce the number of patients in the MSF-supported clinic in Mayen-Abun, MSF has started providing consultations in accessible locations inside the camps, or nearby health posts.

Challenges and gaps

The volume of patients received in the MSF supported healthcare facilities reflect the alarming extent of healthcare needs for people in the host communities and those who have been displaced.

“We receive many children with moderate or severe acute malnutrition,” explains James Tikuei Nyibango Okoth, MSF medical activity manager in Twic County. “They come mainly from the displaced camps, but also from the host community, because food is missing all over the region. We face am influx of patients suffering from malaria during the rainy season and high number of malnourished children during the dry period. Our teams are stretched to capacity, and the needs are immense.”

Staff in all wards of the facility are busy. One place is quieter: the neonatal unit, where the newborns and their mothers rest. But one mother, Akon Garan and her son Athan Mariak Muorwel, 8 days old, are preparing to leave early the day after the baby is born. The baby needs an urgent surgery because of a malformation. But there are no surgical capacities in the whole Twic County, so they will be referred to Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. Road access is limited and long, and the baby is very small and fragile for the six-hour drive. The absence of an operation theatre puts many lives at risk.

“If a patient is bleeding, or a pregnant woman has an obstructed labour it is very difficult”, says James Tikuei Nyibango Okoth. “We have also lost patients on the way due to the long distance.”

MSF is rehabilitating an operating theatre in a hospital in Turalei, one-hour drive from Mayen-Abun in dry season. Another challenge is the climate situation, as the recurrent flood that occurred in the region for three past years, not only make many areas inaccessible but also result in high peaks of waterborne diseases such as malaria.

More support needed for the population

“The situation is still very severe”, declares Beatriz Martinez de la Fuente, MSF project coordinator in Twic. “Because the conflict is still ongoing and considering that this area is likely to get flooded during the rainy season, this situation could become even more difficult for people here.”

Anticipating the rainy season that will worsen the living condition as well as increase the health needs, more support is needed from other medical and humanitarian actors.

“We continue to run our medical programmes, but there are acute needs for food, water supply, sanitation, shelter and protection, “she concludes.

While this region, along with other parts of South Sudan suffer from soaring needs, cuts to funding or reduced humanitarian assistance put lives of many in danger.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).

Liquid Dataport, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, today announced it has launched the first terrestrial fibre connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg. This new route, including a breakthrough and unique fibre link across DRC between Goma and Kananga, provides multiple landlocked countries with extra redundancy, resilience, connectivity to numerous data centres and cloud resources, and, most significantly, an alternative option in the event of a subsea cable outage between Kenya and South Africa.

“Cassava Technologies is committed to making digital inclusion a reality on the African continent. This milestone achieved by Liquid Dataport reiterates our commitment to a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind through our continuous investments towards improving and expanding our digital infrastructure. This route will not only bring increased access to high-speed connectivity, but will also improve lives and allow businesses to create and sustain millions of jobs,” says Hardy Pemhiwa, President and Group CEO of Cassava Technologies.

The exponential demand for connectivity directly results from the increasing adoption of digital technologies by enterprises across the continent. Consequently, there is an urgent need for service providers and international carriers like Liquid Dataport to cater to this growing demand seamlessly. This route that will connect South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the DRC is yet another testament to Liquid Dataport's commitment to improving access to digital services for everyone in Africa dramatically. 

Commenting on the launch of this new route, David Eurin, CEO of Liquid Dataport, said, “This is the first terrestrial-only cable connecting Mombasa to Johannesburg via DRC. It is the result of our significant fibre infrastructure investments in several countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. With this new route, we are able to provide our existing and future customers access to an intelligent network with increased resilience and low latency. It not only provides redundancy but was designed to provide additional capacity to the landlocked countries on the route with direct access to cloud resources on the African continent and beyond”.

This route offers hyperscalers, enterprises and wholesale carriers direct connectivity to data centres in Johannesburg and Nairobi. Investments on the Equiano sea cable and significant capacity on the PEACE and 2Africa undersea fibre cables together with its extensive terrestrial cross-border fibre brodband network ensures that Liquid's customers benefit from low-cost international capacity landing on both the Kenyan and South African shores wherever they need it on the Continent. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Liquid Intelligent Technologies.

About Liquid Intelligent Technologies:
Liquid Intelligent Technologies is a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group serving customers in over 25 countries in Africa. Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading provider of pan-African digital infrastructure with a 100,000km-long fibre broadband network and satellite connectivity that provides high-speed access to the Internet anywhere in Africa. Liquid is also leveraging its digital network to provide Cloud and Cyber Security solutions through strategic partnerships with leading global players. Liquid is a comprehensive technology solutions group that provides customised digital solutions to public and private sector enterprises and SMEs across the continent. https://www.Liquid.Tech/ 

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As part of the Western Cape Government's drive to create opportunities for youth employment, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), together with 12 employers in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector hosted a recruitment drive at the Athlone stadium on Friday, 12 May 2023, to bring employment opportunities closer to where young job seekers live.

Unemployed youth, between the ages of 18 and 34 with a grade 12 or equivalent qualification were interviewed by operators, which will be employing 1 000 of those interviewed in the BPO sector.

“The BPO sector is a vibrant and growing sector of the Western Cape's economy, with Cape Town and the Western Cape recognised as the leading location in South Africa for global business services delivery” said Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger. 

The event is the first of five to be held in the 2023/24 financial year, bringing the number of opportunities offered to 5 000 over the year.

Successful candidates will receive a 12-month on-the-job learnership within a BPO company, including a monthly stipend. After completing the programme, each beneficiary will receive an accredited qualification, equivalent to a NQF level 3.

Minister Wenger continued: “I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the applicants as well as the companies present at the drive at the Athlone Stadium on Friday and what struck me was the hope and enthusiasm in all who I met. The fact is that far too many young people struggle to find work which is why the Western cape Government works with the private sector to create more opportunities for our young residents.”

This project is a partnership between DEDAT and BPO operators, as well as the National Treasury's Job Fund and Cape Town College.

“What is truly impressive is that 80% of those who complete the programme are transitioned into a formal job, giving them the opportunity to live a life they value, to support themselves and their families. We will continue to partner with key stakeholders in the private sector so we can help create many more opportunities for those wishing to find work in the province.” Concluded Minister Wenger.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of South African Government.