He paints a grim picture of the situation of women, girls, and children in the world’s newest and youngest country that gained independence from Sudan in July 2011.
“Consider the South Sudanese mother who watches her child die because of malnutrition caused by severe hunger, the young man who dies in the hospital because there is no medicine to treat him, the 9-year-old girl who, for a piece of 'bambe' (potato), is forced to sell her body, and the emaciated old woman who is lying inside her ramshackle hut awaiting death to take away her suffering.”
“Those still living in their homesteads are equally facing starvation since most of them have had to, ironically, abandon their sources of livelihood in a bid to save their lives,” he says, and adds, “Most school-going children have had to drop out of school because of insecurity and fear of being forcefully recruited to serve as soldiers in the conflicts.”
The President of SCBC’s Commission for Integral Human Development since his election during the 20-25 November 2023 SCBC Annual Plenary Assembly laments the growing number of street children from “the majority of these out- of-school children”, and cautions, “This menace of rising numbers of street children, if not addressed immediately, will impact negatively on the country's security.”
“For lack of learners and teachers in schools, most government-run schools have had to suspend their services, and have become homes for the IDPs,” he adds, emphasizing the myriad of challenges in South Sudan.
These challenges are compounded by earlier negative effects of COVID-19 restrictions, Bishop Hiiboro further laments, and explains, “South Sudan is also still struggling to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw our already fragile economy come to a near collapse.”
“COVID-19 saw many people lose their jobs and livelihoods, causing those who were previously self-reliant to become dependent on well-wishers,” he says.
The challenges of the people of God in South Sudan have worsened by the country’s “skyrocketing inflation”, Bishop Hiiboro notes, adding that “many people can no longer afford to buy even the cheapest of foodstuff. As a result, the poverty levels in the country have increased, with the number of families going hungry escalating.”
“The state of calamities in the country has been worsened by floods in some areas and severe drought in others,” he says, and further laments, “The country, South Sudan, seems to be going round in circles from one calamity to the next and back. The saddest reality is our inability to overcome the effects of these calamities and cushion our people against them.”
The President of the Commission for Integral Human Development of SCBC that brings together Catholic Bishops in Sudan and South Sudan appeals for external support from Caritas network, members of the international community, and people of good will.
