Determinants of wasting among South Sudanese 6- to 59-month-old children in Okugo refugee camp, Gambella Region, South-Western Ethiopia: Unmatched case–control study

Introduction: Wasting among refugee children continues to be a serious public health problem particularly in conflict and in situations when people are displaced. Evidence of risk factors in the refugee context is crucial to successfully prevent malnutrition and its consequences. However, little information is known about the determinants of wasting in a refugee setting. Hence, this study was aimed to identify determinants of wasting among South Sudanese 6- to 59-month-old children in Okugo refugee camp, South-Western Ethiopia. Methods: Institutional-based unmatched case–control study was conducted on 99 acute malnutrition children (cases) and 297 children who are not malnourished (control) from 6 April to 2 May 2019. The study participant was selected by systematic random sampling and data on exposure variables were collected by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and was exported to SPSS version 25 for further analysis. Descriptive, bivariable, and multivariable analyses were done to compute summary statistics and to identify determinants of wasting. Result: The mean age of the cases and controls with standard deviation (SD) was 13.8 (±6.9) and 19.2 (±8.7) months, respectively. Multi-variable analysis revealed that mothers who were unable to read and write (adjusted odds ratio = 3.26, 95% confidence interval (1.07–7.93)), fathers only decision-maker to use donations items in the household (adjusted odds ratio = 3.75, 95% confidence interval (1.28–10.85)), not used all donated refugee food and non-food items (adjusted odds ratio = 2.57; 95% confidence interval (1.17–5.66)), the incidence of diarrhea 2 weeks preceding the survey (adjusted odds ratio = 5.28, 95% confidence interval (2.31–12.04)), and mother’s smoking habit (adjusted odds ratio = 2.98, 95% confidence interval (1.19–7.44)) were significant determinants of wasting. Conclusion: The finding shows that mothers who are unable to read and write, father only decision-maker, parents’ smoking habit, not using all donated refugee food items, and diarrheal disease were found to be independent determinants of wasting. Hence, interventions on acute malnutrition which are focused on empowering women through training and strengthening their control over the household assets, proper utilization of donated food, and non-food items will play a paramount role.

South Sudan

When South Sudan gained independence in 2011, the whole world rejoiced. The country marked 10 years of independence on July 9, 2021, but on that occasion, as was the case for the previous decade, its people had very little to celebrate. The country had been gripped by both state violence and deadly ethnic feuds. The intense rifts in ethnic relations emanating from this cycle have become a major risk factor for mass atrocities. This paper aims to chronicle the atrocity crimes that have happened in South Sudan in the past 12 years, what drives them, and how they can be mitigated or stopped. It will also suggest what the international community can do to assist the South Sudanese to find justice, accountability for atrocity crimes and above all, how to reduce or end violence. The paper is based on a review of reports by human rights agencies, the United Nations agencies operating in South Sudan, independent researchers, academics and think tanks. It is also based on the author’s first-hand knowledge of the context and on numerous interviews with South Sudanese. The goal, however, is not to ask: what lessons have been learned from the ongoing efforts in the country?

South Sudanese or Australian or Both or Caught in Between? A Qualitative Study Examining Identity Among South Sudanese Refugees Living in Sydney, Australia.

Background: The majority of the current South Sudanese population in Australia arrived as refugees in the early 2000s, facing challenges related to dislocation, navigating a new culture while honouring their own own. Much of the research on the South Sudanese experience has been conducted in the early years after arrival, with resettlement stressors likely to influence narratives of identity as new immigrants.This study aimed to understand the lived experiences of identity among South Sudanese who are long-term residents of Australia after fleeing their birth country, migration, and re-building their lives.Methods: The qualitative study was underpinned by a phenomenological framework that characterised the experiences of study participants. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit Sydney-residing adults who arrived in Australia through its humanitarian refugee program 10 or more years ago and were born in South Sudan. Semi-structured interviews explored how participants identified themselves in Australia, changes in their experiences over time, their social and general life situation in Australia, and perceptions (self and other) of South Sudanese people in Australia.Results: The 26 participants from refugee backgrounds all had similar experiences of dislocation, most arriving in Australia 10-19 years ago with family members. Most participants were in employment and had attained (sometimes multiple) educational qualifications.Participants described a multiplicity of interconnected domains that governed the negotiating and making sense of identity. Three key themes were identified: mutable identities - dependent on context; Identity in relation to children; and the influence of limited opportunities. These themes were mediated by other interwoven personal and structural factors that shaped experience and perception. Expressions of hope, pride and achievement were threaded through several of the interviews, particularly in relation to their children. There was also frustration related to employment challenges and discrimination that limited identity reconstruction.Conclusions: Our exploration of long-term lived experiences for South Sudanese migrants highlights the evolving and often conflicting factors that shape domains of integration and identity construction. The deeper, more nuanced understandings of bicultural identity within a strengths-based framework calls for better partnerships and services to support strengthened community and acculturalisation.

More Local is Possible: Recommendations for enhancing local humanitarian leadership and refugee participation in the Gambella refugee response

The Gambella region of western Ethiopia hosts over 300,000 South Sudanese refugees in seven camps. The refugee response is dominated by UN agencies and international NGOs and staffed mostly by Ethiopians from outside of Gambella, creating a gap between humanitarian actors and the people they seek to assist. In order to realize commitments to localization and refugee participation made in the Charter for Change, the Grand Bargain and the Global Compact for Refugees, it is critical for refugees and local populations to be more involved in shaping and leading the delivery of aid. This could be achieved through increasing the role played by Gambella-based NGOs, engaging with faith-based actors, facilitating diaspora initiatives and supporting the development of refugee-led organizations.

"So We Thought not to Lose Our Background Completely": Agency and Belonging among South Sudanese Acholi in New Zealand

<p>The members of the South Sudanese Acholi population in New Zealand are part of the burgeoning number of refugees worldwide. As such, they are at risk of having their personal experiences submerged in the stereotypical view of ‘the refugee experience’. The South Sudanese Acholi community are a small but distinct ethnic sub-community within the wider South Sudanese refugee-background population in New Zealand. One of my primary aims in this thesis is to represent the specifically-situated experiences of individuals from this group within the broader contexts of refugee resettlement. A fundamental aspect of these experiences is the ambiguous and often contradictory senses of belonging which community members describe. Using analysis of the narratives through which these individuals make sense of their resettlement experiences, I determine agency to be an important consideration in experiences of belonging and, therefore, I argue that the role of agency to belonging should be more widely recognised. In this thesis I demonstrate how various attempts by South Sudanese Acholi at cultural (re)production in New Zealand are intimately linked to the many difficulties these individuals experience in resettlement, and particularly to how these difficulties impact the development and maintenance of a sense of belonging. Analyses of individual and common factors demonstrate the importance of belonging to experiences of resettlement. This is apparent throughout all aspects of South Sudanese Acholi’s everyday lives. This thesis is organised around the interlinking nature of three aspects of everyday life: marriage, cultural performance, and discursive practices. A central unifying factor is that each of these aspects of every day experience can be understood as attempts in developing more stable senses of belonging. Data was collected through a combination of participant observation and unstructured interviews. Participant observation was primarily undertaken among the Sudanese Acholi Cultural Association (SACA), a community-organised Acholi cultural performance group. Although not exclusively the focus of this research, the members of this group comprise the basis of my research participants and their resettlement experiences form the basis for my results. A focus on participants’ stories about their lives in resettlement allows analysis of the importance of their everyday practices and perceptions to the ways in which they experience and understand their lives in New Zealand and demonstrates that the on-going interaction between their experiences as refugees and their resettlement experiences are mutually reinforcing. I suggest that if refugees’ own voices and opinions are to be accurately represented, a holistic perspective of the full range of their experiences is required. The ambivalent, multiple, and multifaceted nature of belonging described by South Sudanese Acholi individuals’ is a defining feature of their resettlement experiences. I suggest that South Sudanese Acholi attempts at performing and reproducing their customary cultural practices in New Zealand serve primarily as creative means of adapting to the conditions of resettlement in ways which allow the construction, development, and maintenance of feelings of belonging among community members. However, I also determine that lack of agency is especially important for understanding the ambivalence about belonging South Sudanese Acholi demonstrate when speaking of these resettlement experiences. I argue that behind many of the everyday actions taken by refugees are simultaneous attempts to rediscover a sense of agency and to recreate a foundation for belonging.</p>

"So We Thought not to Lose Our Background Completely": Agency and Belonging among South Sudanese Acholi in New Zealand

<p>The members of the South Sudanese Acholi population in New Zealand are part of the burgeoning number of refugees worldwide. As such, they are at risk of having their personal experiences submerged in the stereotypical view of ‘the refugee experience’. The South Sudanese Acholi community are a small but distinct ethnic sub-community within the wider South Sudanese refugee-background population in New Zealand. One of my primary aims in this thesis is to represent the specifically-situated experiences of individuals from this group within the broader contexts of refugee resettlement. A fundamental aspect of these experiences is the ambiguous and often contradictory senses of belonging which community members describe. Using analysis of the narratives through which these individuals make sense of their resettlement experiences, I determine agency to be an important consideration in experiences of belonging and, therefore, I argue that the role of agency to belonging should be more widely recognised. In this thesis I demonstrate how various attempts by South Sudanese Acholi at cultural (re)production in New Zealand are intimately linked to the many difficulties these individuals experience in resettlement, and particularly to how these difficulties impact the development and maintenance of a sense of belonging. Analyses of individual and common factors demonstrate the importance of belonging to experiences of resettlement. This is apparent throughout all aspects of South Sudanese Acholi’s everyday lives. This thesis is organised around the interlinking nature of three aspects of everyday life: marriage, cultural performance, and discursive practices. A central unifying factor is that each of these aspects of every day experience can be understood as attempts in developing more stable senses of belonging. Data was collected through a combination of participant observation and unstructured interviews. Participant observation was primarily undertaken among the Sudanese Acholi Cultural Association (SACA), a community-organised Acholi cultural performance group. Although not exclusively the focus of this research, the members of this group comprise the basis of my research participants and their resettlement experiences form the basis for my results. A focus on participants’ stories about their lives in resettlement allows analysis of the importance of their everyday practices and perceptions to the ways in which they experience and understand their lives in New Zealand and demonstrates that the on-going interaction between their experiences as refugees and their resettlement experiences are mutually reinforcing. I suggest that if refugees’ own voices and opinions are to be accurately represented, a holistic perspective of the full range of their experiences is required. The ambivalent, multiple, and multifaceted nature of belonging described by South Sudanese Acholi individuals’ is a defining feature of their resettlement experiences. I suggest that South Sudanese Acholi attempts at performing and reproducing their customary cultural practices in New Zealand serve primarily as creative means of adapting to the conditions of resettlement in ways which allow the construction, development, and maintenance of feelings of belonging among community members. However, I also determine that lack of agency is especially important for understanding the ambivalence about belonging South Sudanese Acholi demonstrate when speaking of these resettlement experiences. I argue that behind many of the everyday actions taken by refugees are simultaneous attempts to rediscover a sense of agency and to recreate a foundation for belonging.</p>