As of December 2020, a total of 555,477 refugee and asylum-seeking children from South Sudan were registered with OPM, out of which the total number of 44,370 include children at risk or unaccompanied or separated children. The existing child protection risks for children from South Sudan remained and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, significantly affecting their wellbeing. The main child protection risks include children being separated from parents, exposure to physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, and other child protection concerns such as child marriage/ teenage pregnancy and child labour.
Within the South Sudanese population, separation of children from family members is a significant concern with a total number of 35,574 unaccompanied or separated children registered in West Nile operations. Government-ordered COVID-19 measures as well as socio-economic constraints within the South Sudanese community have resulted in an increase of long-term separation and child neglect with parents/caregivers unable to return to settlements. Due to staffing and resource constraints, only around 70% of all children under alternative care have been regularly monitored by case workers supported by community-based child protection committee members. Other main risks include exposure to child marriage or teenage pregnancy which was addressed by UNHCR and partners through a multi-sectoral approach and comprehensive case management services. A total of 7,630 children (5,513 newly identified in 2020) received case management services addressing their needs and finding short, medium, and long-term solutions.
The closure of schools and child friendly spaces also led to limited safe access to community spaces for socializing, play, learning and development. Due to closure of spaces as of March, only 1% of all South Sudanese children in the different settlements have had access to safe community spaces for socializing, play, learning activities. In addition, specialized mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services have been limited and often lack a child-focused approach. As a result, the increasing needs of children displaying psychosocial distress and anxiety resulting from measures of COVID-19 containment as well as protection risks have negatively impacted on children’s wellbeing.
Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, the protection of children was supported through strengthened engagement with the various community-based structures, specifically the child protection committees tasked to identify and monitor child protection risks as well to report children with specific needs to the relevant UNHCR and partner child protection staff. A total of 179 child protection committees have been supported with capacity development activities and material items such as bikes, airtime, weather-appropriate clothing to reach out to children and caregivers and to ensure awareness on COVID-19. Additional, community-based activities such as home play and learning activities were undertaken to meet the psychosocial needs of the children and built their resilience to cope during the pandemic.
UNHCR focused capacity development activities on the shift to comprehensive implementation of Best Interests Procedures and proGres v4 Child Protection module trainings, reaching a total of 407 case managers.