South Sudan: from war to life

South Sudan is the youngest nation in the world. After 60 year long war, in July 2011 the country gain the independence from Sudan, ratified by a democratic referendum. In December 2013 a civil conflict erupted in the capital Juba and soon spread to the rest of country.

The ongoing war is silent and subtle. There are no clear front lines between the opposing forces. The numerous peace agreements signed between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, who has not returned to the country since the start of the current crisis, are continuously violated by both parties on the ground. In October the rebels, led by former vice-president Riek Machar, have attacked Leer town, in the oil-rich Unity State. Government forces and militia have regained control of the town soon, as continuous fighting is taking a heavy toll on people’s livelihoods.

According to [OCHA](http://www.unocha.org/south-sudan/) – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, since December 2013, the conflict has devastated the lives of millions of South Sudanese and displaced more than 2.2 million people. About 1.6 million of them have been displaced internally in South Sudan and over 600.000 are refugees in neighboring countries.

Civilians are paying the highest price for 22-month conflict that has pushed South Sudan closed to famine. The problems caused by the alternation of drought and heavy rainfall add up to the long-term effects of the crisis: reduced income, [inflation](http://www.ssnbs.org/cpi/), rising prices, above all of food and fuel, in an already weak economy.

The result is a country on the verge of economic collapse.

Maternity in South Sudan is an harsh and challenging reality.

Extremely poor road conditions, the lack of drugs, skilled health workers and adequate facilities, as well as the widespread practice of home deliveries have put the nation on the top of the list of the countries with one of the highest rates of child and maternal mortality.

South Sudan is the youngest nation in the world and its health system is still developing. One of the main problems is the lack of trained health workers, that hampers the supply of health care quality services.

But the strengthening of the national health system is hindered by the current civil war and by the humanitarian crisis that seems not to stop, in an escalation of violence and human rights violations.