Aid agency, partners reunite 7,000 children with families in South Sudan
October 17, 2023 (JUBA) – The child rights organisation, Save the Children and its partners have been reuniting children with their families in South Sudan for nearly a decade now.
The initiative was successful due to a cutting-edge open-source software platform known as the Child Protection Information Management System Plus (CPIMS+).
“Through use of this software, which includes both a mobile app and offline capabilities, Save the Children staff members recently managed to reunite Simon*, 13, with his adult brother Samuel [CDI] * after three months of separation from family members – bringing the total number of child reunifications the organisation has facilitated in South Sudan since 2017 to 7,000,” the agency noted in a statement.
Simon and his family are from Khartoum in neighbouring Sudan, where conflict broke out in mid-April. Simon was staying with his uncle when his neighbourhood was attacked, and when he returned home, he found armed groups had taken over the area and neighbours had fled. Scared for his life, he ran away alone, and was identified at the South Sudan border by the United Nations migration agency (IOM), which referred him to Save the Children.
Simon’s brother Samuel also made his own journey from Khartoum to safety in South Sudan.
“When we heard that Simon had left our home in Khartoum and the message reached us people were worried. Anything bad could have happened. Maybe he was kidnapped or was shot or anything so for us as a family here, we were so very worried until when we got the news that he reached Renk and then he was received by some people and they were taking care of him,” Samuel told Save the agency.
“We are very happy to see [our] brother who has been lost and, in the beginning, people never knew where he was. Seeing him, we are so honoured and we want to thank all the organisations who are taking care of kids who just flee the war”, he added.
According to CPIMS+ database, nearly 20,000 unaccompanied, separated or missing children have been registered across South Sudan in the past nine years due to conflict within the country and from neighbouring Sudan.
Separated and unaccompanied children are reportedly more susceptible to violence, abuse and exploitation, which makes returning them to their parents an urgent priority.
“Every time I hear a story like this my heart lifts. Every day we hear more stories of how conflict tears away at children’s lives – and tears them from their families. I could not be more proud of the work of our team in South Sudan, which has now reunited 7,000 children with their families after years of dedicated work,” said Jib Pornpun Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children Country Director in South Sudan.
In Renk border, Save the Children works to increase the protection of children and their families who are affected by the Sudan crisis through the provision of child protection services, reunification, referrals and community-based gender-sensitive preventive and responsive interventions.
Save the Children also provides mental health and psychosocial support to children, women and men fleeing the conflict in Sudan. For Simon, Save the Children traced his family whereabouts, reunified him, advocated for his safety, and provided him with basic needs like ‘reintegration kits’ such as clothes, blankets, food, mosquito nets.
Save the Children has been working in South Sudan since independence in 2011. Last year, the agency reached 2.2 million people in South Sudan, including 1.5 million children through programmes focused on health, nutrition, education, hygiene and child protection.
(ST)