Help Sudanese and Other Refugees Get Healthcare in South Sudan
Emergency Support Needed
Join Peace Winds in providing healthcare, clean water, and other critical aid to the 27,500+ Sudanese refugees and other members of Gorom Refugee Settlement.
Sudan’s civil war broke out in 2023, and since then, nearly 12 million people have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Many have remained in Sudan, but more than 4 million people have fled to neighboring countries, including South Sudan.
Peace Winds is aiding the 27,500+ Sudanese refugees and other residents of Gorom Refugee Settlement near Juba, South Sudan. The settlement was built to accommodate roughly 2,500 people, but a rapid influx of Sudanese refugees seeking safety has swelled it to more than 10 times its capacity this year, pushing crucial services past their limits.
Peace Winds runs the only health facility for miles that serves the Gorom community. But resources were too tight even before the recent population increase, and sharp cuts to U.S. foreign assistance are exacerbating these issues. Despite heroic efforts by the small team of staff, care is woefully inadequate. Long wait times prevent patients from getting timely treatment. Pregnant women do not have access to 24/7 care. And many children cannot get the primary health care they need to thrive.
Peace Winds urgently needs your help to strengthen primary and maternal care at Gorom Primary Health Care Center.
Your donations will support:
- Staffing. Health center providers are each seeing 40+ patients per day for a wide range of issues. We hope to hire a doctor, mental health professional, and one more midwife and nurse so patients can get the care they need in a timely manner.
- Medication and Supplies. Shortages are making it difficult to test, treat, and mitigate the spread of preventable diseases. Donations will help us stock the clinic with things like antimalarial drugs, painkillers, IV infusion sets, testing kits, and disinfectants.
- Sanitation Facilities. Staff and patients are making do with broken medical equipment, sinks, and latrines–including the one for patients who caught cholera during the ongoing outbreak. Repairing and maintaining these will mitigate disease spread and improve care for patients.
We also need your help to:
Provide Clean Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services
Peace Winds is the lead organization providing water, sanitation, and hygiene services to the 27,500+ Sudanese refugees and other members of the Gorom community. Priorities include:
- Sustainable water and sanitation. Peace Winds helps equip the community to become self-reliant in managing its water supply and sanitation by standing up Water Use Committees and Solid Waste Management Committees. These community-based committees are responsible for routine cleaning and maintenance and educational activities.
- Hygiene promotion and cholera prevention. Refugees who work as Community Health and Nutrition Workers (CHNWs) lead door-to-door outreach and educational activities on hygiene and prevention of communicable diseases like cholera.
Empower Girls and Women through Menstrual Health Support
Refugees in camps in South Sudan tend to lack access to menstrual products, the knowhow to use them, and sufficient support systems. When combined with harmful stereotypes and stigmas around periods, refugees often miss work or school during menstruation.
Peace Winds complements its support for sanitation infrastructure with comprehensive menstrual health programming. This includes:
- Distribution of menstrual pads as part of a “dignity kit” that also includes soap, underpants (which many girls lack), an educational pamphlet, and other items.
- Educational discussions led by teachers and experienced facilitators who teach students how to use pads while focusing on facts and dispelling harmful myths about menstruation. These conversations also serve as an entry point to educate students about teen pregnancy, sexual and gender-based violence, and other issues affecting the camp.
- Supporting school health clubs made up of students who teach others how to sew their own reusable pads and lead menstruation awareness activities.
About Peace Winds
Peace Winds began working in what is now South Sudan in 2006 and has since run 30+ projects for internally displaced people and refugees in the country. It is designated by UNHCR as the lead on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Gorom Refugee Settlement, and it also offers programs for Sudanese refugees in Aweil West County in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. Peace Winds’ other programs in Africa include WASH, livelihoods, agriculture, protection, and communicable disease prevention in Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, and Burkina Faso.
The Peace Winds alliance includes one of Japan’s leading humanitarian organizations, Peace Winds Japan, as well as Peace Winds America, a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and Peace Winds Korea, and it operates programs in more than 30 other countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Click here to learn more about Peace Winds America, and check out the posts below for in-depth updates from South Sudan.
