Juba: Urban and peri-urban context overview and analysis

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country and arguably one of the least developed. Pre and post-independence, South Sudan has been embroiled in recurrent conflict and insecurity, and like many countries in the region it is also vulnerable to climate change. As a result, South Sudanese children, families, and communities ability to cope, adapt and recover from both human and non-human shocks and stresses has been severely compromised resulting in some of the highest levels of chronic hunger, malnutrition, forced displacement, continued disruption of livelihoods, and some of the worst health indicators in the world. The recent violence that took place in July, 2016 in Juba only accelerated these trends while at the same time forcing some humanitarian organisations to suspend and or permanently close operations, and others to scale up their interventions to meet the increased needs across the country. It was against this backdrop that World Vision South Sudan (WV) decided to carry out a Macro-level context analysis of the country (Making Sense of Turbulent Contexts) in October and November, 2016 so that it could optimise its ability to address the widening and deepening of vulnerabilities faced across the country. Among other things, the findings of the Macro-level analysis highlighted the need for further understanding of the vulnerabilities faced at the more micro-levels, particularly urban centres and areas with the greatest influence on the overall context in the country at any given time. To this end, and anticipating an expansion of its already existing urban programing in the city, on November 10th, 2017 WV commenced a comprehensive urban and peri-urban context analysis of Juba to better map, identify and understand the vulnerabilities faced by residents in Juba so that it, and other stakeholders could carryout the most efficient and effective interventions required by those in need.