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Current Requirements (US$)$1.46 billion
Crisis overview
South Sudan is facing a complex, multi-layered convergence of humanitarian, economic, political, security, health and environmental crises. Civilians are caught in relentless cycles of violence and neglect, as the emergency intensifies with extreme levels of acute food insecurity, climate shocks, disease outbreaks, mass displacement, and cross-border pressures from the Sudan crisis. The humanitarian crisis, with over 10 million people in need, representing two-thirds of South Sudan’s population, is inseparable from the country’s unresolved political turmoil. Over 7.5 million people (53 per cent of the analysed population) are projected to face crisis or worse levels of hunger (IPC Phase 3 or above) during the 2026 lean season from April to July. Malnutrition remains critically high and continues as a persistent challenge. Some 2.1 million children aged 6–59 months are expected to suffer acute malnutrition and be in urgent need of nutrition services and treatment up to June 2026. Additionally, around 1.1 million pregnant and lactating women are at risk of malnutrition and in need of treatment during the same period, a 4 per cent increase from the previous year.
Since 2019, annual flooding has affected communities, with over 1 million people impacted each year. As of November 2025, over 1 million people were affected by floods across six of the ten states. An estimated 2.6 million people remain internally displaced, many of whom have endured protracted displacement for over a decade. In 2025 alone, over 675,000 people have been newly displaced due to renewed conflict between Government forces and opposition groups, intercommunal conflict, and floods. The Sudan crisis continues to impact South Sudan, with a cumulative 1.3 million people arriving in South Sudan as of November, and many more expected in 2026 if the Sudan crisis remains unresolved. South Sudan is facing the worst cholera outbreak in its history, with over 95,000 cases recorded since September 2024. While nearly 1,600 people have died, more than 94,000 (98%) of all cases have recovered.
Fashoda County, South Sudan
Families displaced by the flood are relocating to higher ground for safety.
Health Care Foundation South Sudan/Kum ChanyFunding shortfalls and access constraints are increasingly limiting the humanitarian response. Despite soaring needs, funding is rapidly dwindling. As of the end of November 2025, the 2025 South Sudan HNRP was only 41 per cent funded. In addition, humanitarian access is shrinking due to repeated attacks on aid workers and assets, recurrent imposition of bureaucratic impediments, and severe funding shortfalls. These conditions are rendering the response increasingly unsustainable and leaving vulnerable communities dangerously exposed. The number of people in need has increased from 9.3 million in 2025 to 10 million in 2026 due to renewed conflict, floods, disease outbreaks, and the continuous influx of people from Sudan.
The overall response was heavily constrained by access challenges in some of the key priority response locations, especially Upper Nile and Western Equatoria states. Although most of the priority 1 and 2 counties (locations with the greatest needs) are in Upper Nile State, partners were only able to reach 30 per cent of the targeted population in the state, due to ongoing fighting, including intermittent aerial bombardment and insecurity in some parts of the state.
Response priorities and financial requirements for 2026
In 2026, the humanitarian response in South Sudan will focus on delivering a further targeted, principled, and accountable response under the framework of the Humanitarian Reset, emphasizing impact over scale. The boundaries of the response have been defined through a rigorous intersectoral analysis, prioritizing lifesaving and time-critical assistance while strengthening linkages with resilience and development actors.
The number of people targeted in 2026 will decrease from 5.4 million to 4.3 million, reflecting a deliberate focus on those facing the most acute needs. Priority counties have shifted based on the 2025 shock impacts and updated intersectoral analysis. Some previously prioritized counties have been deprioritized due to improved access or stabilized conditions, while others, Nasir, Ulang, and Fangak emerged as intersectoral severity level 5 for the first time since the introduction of the JIAF 2.0 methodology, signifying a sharp deterioration in specific riverine and flood-prone areas. All counties will be continuously analyzed during 2026, and priorities will be adjusted as and when necessary.
Renk County, South Sudan
A child displaced by the conflict in Sudan is screened for malnutrition at a UNICEF-supported clinic.
UNICEF/Mark NaftalinThe Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) has therefore targeted only priority 1–3 counties, where needs are most acute, considering the anticipated low funding levels in 2026. Populations in lower-severity or limited-access areas will instead be referred to targeted recovery and development mechanisms and partner stabilization frameworks. The HCT will implement initiatives aligned with the Humanitarian Reset Roadmap, including positioning Cash and Voucher Assistance as the primary response modality, promoting localization, and ensuring equitable partnerships with national actors. The joint UNCT-HCT collective outcome, enhancing resilience and self-reliance of vulnerable populations through food security, basic services, durable solutions, peace and governance, and shock response, will guide programming through area-based coordination approaches. This will ensure a cohesive stance in discussions with the Government, while strategically leveraging the situation to press for increased national accountability in addressing the needs of its own population.
The prioritized financial requirement for 2026 is $1.04 billion, of the $1.46 billion overall requirement, which is on par with the 2025 prioritized requirement of $1.03 billion from the $1.69 billion overall 2025 ask. Although the cost of humanitarian operations has risen significantly due to inflation, fuel shortages, currency depreciation, and logistical challenges, with food and transport prices up over 500 per cent since 2023, the reduction reflects a reset toward ensuring the most critical, life-saving interventions are conducted.
While boundary-setting means that moderate-need populations will not receive direct humanitarian assistance, humanitarian actors will work closely with development and peace actors to promote recovery and resilience pathways, ensuring the response remains principled, strategic, and adaptive to evolving needs.
South Sudan
2025 in review: response highlights and consequences of inaction
Response highlights
Humanitarian Response
By the end of December, partners are projected to have reached 3.9 million people (74 per cent of the original target of 5.4 million) with some form of humanitarian assistance.
Life Saving
Due to funding constraints, partners prioritized life-saving needs in priority 1 and 2 counties with partial assistance.
Response Analysis
In March/April, the HCT reprioritized the response and reduced the target population from 5.4 million people to about 3 million. In addition, clusters also reviewed their responses and only provided partial assistance to the reprioritized target population.
Cholera
Partners struggled to control the spread of cholera leading to widespread and heavy loss of lives. While the number of new cholera cases has declined in recent months, concerns remain due to population movements, waning immunity, emerging hotspots, and sustained cholera transmission in neighbouring Sudan.
Renk County, South Sudan
A healthcare worker administers a polio vaccine to a child as part of a vaccination campaign.
WHO/Jemila EbrahimConsequences of funding cuts
Prioritization
The reprioritization left over 2.4 million people in critical need without assistance in 2025, while the partial response was ineffective in addressing some critical needs that required robust and sustained response.
Access constraints and challenges
Between August and November, flooding destroyed critical infrastructure, rendering many communities like Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile States inaccessible.
How life-saving aid can make a difference in a child’s life
“We spent several days travelling, including crossing by boat. I couldn’t stay in Sudan after my wife was killed,” said Bol Chol, who arrived at the Bulukat transit centre in Malakal, Upper Nile State, with his three-year-old son, Arow, on 13 October, after a long journey on foot and by boat. “I had to sell some of our furniture to afford the trip home.” When a team from the International Medical Corps (IMC) conducted door-to-door nutrition screening for newly arrived children under five, they met Arow. He was too weak to stand and could barely lift his hand to brush away a fly from his cheek. The red section on the mid-upper arm circumference tape confirmed that Arow was severely malnourished. The IMC team immediately referred him to the nutrition facility at the centre. “After examination, we provide children like Arow with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food , such as Plumpy’Nut, which helps them recover within weeks,” said Gordon Diu, a Senior Nutrition Officer with IMC in Bulukat. After a few bites, Arow began to brighten up. His eyes regained their spark, and he started moving around the facility, peeking at other children. Arow is one of an estimated 2.3 million children under five in South Sudan at risk of acute malnutrition, including about 700,000 projected to face severe acute malnutrition by the end of the year, the highest number ever recorded. With timely, life-saving aid, children like Arow can recover, play, and regain a sense of normalcy.